JULY 28, 2026 FATHER HENK VAN MEIJEL
The parable of the good seed, the weed, and the bad seed, the weeds, is a nice explanation Jesus gives, but it’s a little bit more complicated than that.
In the parable just a little bit before this explanation, He also says the workers want to pull up the weeds out of the field, and He says, “No, no, no, no, you’re going to do too much damage.”
But, also, in, although not in real life, but spiritually, the bad seed, the weeds, can also become good seed, and produce a big harvest, and this is about conversion.
It’s not something to pray with, that, of course, this gives the end of time, where it will be the final judgment, but -before the final judgment we each have many choices. We each have choices to righten our way, or to fall away.
And, actually, in the first reading of Jeremiah, we have Jeremiah. He has to give a bad message to the Jewish community that there will be doom, and it was very simple. He could see that he just had to look over the walls of Jerusalem and could see how the Babylonians would come, but also many bad prophets, who were there who said, “Oh, yeah, don’t worry. Everything will be fine.”, and so on. Sounds very familiar.
And we see how Jeremiah, at the end of the first reading, really, it’s a lament, or I could say “a prayer to God,” that “God deliver us as…” Or, some said, “a prayer for deliverance of God” as the people are blind.
The people can be blind. I can be blind. I just have to look at my own life.
In ’80s, 1980s, I had a business, and the business just grew. Year by year, it just doubled in business. And a good prophet, my accountant, said, “Henk, slow down. “Slow down. Develop the business.”
But, of course, my ego, and the world, they say, “No, no, no, you got to have a big business. “You got to have a big business. “And the more you sell, you know, the better you are.”
But, and, of course, I listened to them. I did not listen to the common sense. And so, in the end, I’ve never been bankrupt, but I was pretty well there, because my ego was in the way.
And that is also in a spiritual life, how our ego can be in the way. And in Jeremiah’s time, the ego was in the way of the Jewish leadership.
And so, it is so important to learn from our mistakes, even when we’re doing all the wrong things, even if we are born, say, in a criminal family, hopefully not, but if we are, and we learn all kinds of bad habits, there’s always time for conversion, and become a good seed. And to deliver a harvest.
We just have to look at our saints. Saint John of God, is one of the examples who was a soldier, and who did all kinds of nasty things under Charles V. In the army, he raped, murdered, did whatever, but there was a conversion. A bad seed who produced a harvest, a good harvest.
And it’s good stuff to pray with, that there is always a time for conversion, even on our death bed, and we can go on with examples and examples, but, it is also good for us to pray with.
How is my life journey with God? How is there conversion in my life? Am I producing a harvest? Am I a good weed, or am I moving slowly? Am I being pulled more to the world slowly? And to the world of narcissism, it’s all about me, and-and forgetting about our neighbours?
And that’s what this is about. When we are in God, it is not about ourselves anymore. When it’s about we want to produce, and we want to have people happy around us, and we want to help people who need assistance.
And, actually, today, on the universal calendar, we have an American, a blessed Stanley Francis Rother, that was assassinated in 1981. And, obviously a good seed.
He was a priest. And in the studies, they almost did not want to ordain him, because he was very good with his hands, but his studies were not that good, especially Latin. Studies in those days, his Latin was pretty bad.
I very much can relate to that, I’m just a mediocre student. Always have been, but, and I’m good with my hands. But that’s why, probably, I’m here at Manresa, because I’m a hands-on kind of guy.
But, Bishop Victor Reed, from Oklahoma City, kind of saw what his “formators” did not see, and he did see a good priest, and he ordained him.
And so, in 1968, Stanley Rother, he asked to be sent to Guatemala, and as a missionary, and he, although he could not study in seminary, he did learn the local language, Tsutsui. I hope I pronounced that right. But he learned it, and he was very much loved, worked for many years, but things were not going good. The death squads, and the, you know, the Communist insurgence, and so on, and in 1981, he briefly went back to the United States, and, for a visit, and because it was getting dangerous there.
But when he was there, he made up his mind that he had to go back. “The shepherd does not leave the sheep.” “The shepherd cannot run at the first sign of danger.”
And, so, he went back, and he was murdered by death squad. And actually, that year, 10 priests were murdered by death squads in Guatemala.
And, obviously, he was very much loved by the people. His body was sent back to the United States, but, they kept his heart in Guatemala, because he was a man of a big heart, and he was that, , the good seed that produced a hundred fold.
And it’s good stuff to pray with, and to encounter those examples. We’re a people inspired by the Holy Spirit and to give their life.
And so, am I giving my everything to God? Is my life about myself, or, am I one of the weeds? Or, am I a person for others?
It’s a very simple, very simple choice, but it’s something we have to look at daily, as we pray, and we assess our own journey here on earth.
Amen.
