Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Consider your own calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.

Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).

If you come to daily Mass, then you know that the Church regularly celebrates feast days of the Saints. Of course, the Saints we officially remember (and those known only to God) were not born Saints. The Saints were also sinners like you and me. Because of the disobedience of Adam and Eve, all of humanity inherited their sinful inclinations. But here is some good news: Your sins do not define you. We are not merely the summation of all our sins. Of course, the devil wants you to believe that you are, and will forever be, just a sinner. Not true. You can be forgiven and you can grow in holiness and virtue.

We celebrate the Saints because they reached heroic sanctity and virtue in this life. But their journey was a process of overcoming faults and failures which was dependent on their ability to seek out and cooperate with God’s grace. There are many examples of Saints who struggled with finding holiness during their lifetime. Many saints seemed to be weeds during their lifetime. The Chinese martyr, St. Mark Ji Tianxiang was addicted to the narcotic called opium even as he was being martyred for being Catholic. In some ways, the drug became his god. The Church also celebrates St. Camillus, a conman who visited prostitutes, St. Augustine who fathered a child outside of marriage, St. Paul witnessed and participated in the murder of Christians, St. Mary Magdalene was possessed by seven devils according to the Sacred Scriptures, and St. Peter denied Christ three times. All the Apostles, except John, deserted Jesus in His Agony.

This brings me to our Gospel this weekend: The Parable of the Weeds and Wheat. Our Lord tells us that weeds and wheat often grow in the same field. Even expert farmers have a difficult time telling the difference between weeds and wheat when they begin to grow. It is only at harvest time when the weeds and the wheat are recognized and separated. Herein lies the message of hope and healing for all of us. When you look at the early life of many of the Saints, you see young men and women who didn’t have much interest in going to Heaven. In their youth, they were putting things before God. But by cooperating with God’s grace, their lives changed and God became their focus.

There is always hope. Despite sin, God can break into our lives. We don’t write anyone off (including ourselves) as incapable of conversion—not even satanists or persecutors of the Church. If you are struggling with the broken world or your broken life, ask God to give you the grace to be patient and wise. Our Lord never gives up on anyone, even those who give up on themselves.

To be continued...

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