Why God Allows Weeds: 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time

The following is a reflection offered by Blessed Franz Jägerstätter († 1943), an Austrian farmer, husband, and father who was executed for refusing to serve
in the Nazi army. The account of his life was the subject of a biopic called A Hidden Life.

How often do we hear it asked: “Is there still a God who sees everything that is happening in the world?” The Gospels report that Christ said to the reapers: Let both of them [the weeds and the wheat] grow together until the harvest…. The Gospels actually teach us very clearly that [God’s judgment] will not be as many people expect….

If God were to take away the persecutors, there would no longer be martyrs. If God were to remove all struggles from our lives, we would no longer receive the crown of glory. Hasn’t God already had compassion on us? Hasn’t God already struck the power of hell a powerful blow? Christ has done penance for the guilt of our sins and expiated us. As a result, all of us who
accept Christ’s teaching and who live according to it can become eternally blessed.

What more do we want? Should Christ allow himself to be crucified again for us? Or was the miracle of Christ’s Resurrection or the other miracles that he performed so minor that we should still wait for new miracles so that we can then believe in his teachings? Hasn’t Christ shown us clearly enough the path to heaven through his words and example?…

The first Christians encountered much suffering. Yet do contemporary Christians no longer know that every hardship that God sends us can be very necessary for our eternal blessedness if we bear it with patience and out of love for God? It will surely be that hell will exercise an even greater power in this world, but we Christians need not fear it. As great as the power of
hell is, the power of God is even greater.