In the context of the second day of the VII International Church Communications Seminar, which is being held in Chile, participants gathered to celebrate the Eucharist in the chapel of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. The celebration was presided over by Mons. Daniel Blanco, auxiliary bishop of San José and coordinator of the Center for Communication of the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council (Celam), who focused his reflection on the explanation that Jesus offers about the parable of the wheat and the tares.
In his homily, the prelate recalled that the Church is meditating on chapter 13 of the Gospel of Saint Matthew, corresponding to Jesus' discourse in parables. “The third great preaching that the Bible presents to us in the words of Jesus,” he expressed.
Referring to the Gospel passage of the day, Mons. Blanco said that the explanation that Christ offers about the parable of the wheat and the tares, a teaching that, as he pointed out, especially manifests the patience of God.
The patience of God
“This parable manifests, in a certain way, the patience of God, the patience of the Lord who does not immediately decide to cut the weeds that are growing alongside the wheat because there is a risk of also cutting the wheat, since both plants are very similar. And He waits, waits for it to grow and waits for it to bear fruit to be sure which is the wheat for the harvest,” he shared.
The bishop explained that, although the Gospel can lead to identifying categories of people represented by the wheat and the weeds, doing so involves a risk.
“Certainly, as the Gospel explained, we can categorize people into the wheat and the weeds. But certainly it is a risk. It is a risk because we then run the danger of seeking to judge a person at first glance,” he warned.
Mercy and conversion
Mons. Blanco reminded that God remains faithful to His covenant and always offers opportunities for conversion: “The Lord, as we were reminded in the first reading, always remembers His covenant and always waits with mercy for conversion”.
He indicated that the Word of God invites us to recognize the patient love of the Lord. “Certainly today the Word of God wants to first remind us how merciful God is, how patient God is with each one of us in the midst of this journey we all carry.”
He explained that Christian life involves a continuous process of inner transformation: “It is a path that must be an authentic feeling of conversion, donde también en el corazón de cada uno habrá elementos de trigo y habrá elementos que necesitan ser transformados, que ciertamente con la gracia del Señor deben ir buscando ese cambiar y transformar, que es lo que busca el Reino, la acción de Dios que transforma todo por dentro y que puede transformar también el corazón de cada uno de nosotros”.
Call for those who serve in the communication of the Church
Addressing the participants of the seminar, many of whom are linked to ecclesial communication, the coordinator of the Center for Communication of Celam emphasized that this call to conversion reaches all areas of the mission of the Church: “In the different areas in which we are called to carry out our mission within the Church, within the different vocations to which the Lord has called us”.
From that reality, he invited us to recognize both the positive signs and the challenges present in ecclesial life. “So many situations of goodness and good fruits that we can communicate, that we can say when talking about a Church that is working well in these areas. But we could also communicate some situations that are not entirely correct and situations in which we must continue working on personal, communal, and ecclesial conversion”.
As he explained, this process is only possible when the Church allows itself to be led by the action of God: “This is only effective when it is the grace of God, the strength of the Spirit, that guides the Church because there is openness in the heart of all of us”.
Pray for the evangelization of the peoples
At the conclusion of his homily, Mons. Blanco recalled that the Eucharist was celebrated especially for the evangelization of the peoples, an intention that connects directly with the permanent mission of the Church.
He asked the Lord to renew the missionary and evangelizing impulse of the Church so that the believers may be witnesses of good in the midst of the world: “We ask the Lord that this impulse that has always moved the Church to announce the Good News may allow all of us, in the midst of the people and the city, in the world, to allow that it may be the grace of the Lord that lasts forever in our lives, that lasts forever in the life of the Church, so that we may announce the good and with the announcement of good we may also seek to continue the good”.
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