“You, O LORD, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and fidelity. Turn toward me, and have pity on me; give your strength to your servant” (Ps 86:15-16).
Dear Marian Helpers and Members of our Marian Family,
In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the wheat and the weeds. When the servants discover weeds growing among the wheat, they immediately ask the master, “Do you want us to go and pull them up?”
This is a very human response. We see evil in the world-injustice, violence, suffering, sin- and we instinctively ask the same question: “Lord, why don’t You do something about it? Why don’t You simply remove all the evil?”
The master’s answer is surprising. No, not yet. If the weeds are pulled up too soon, the wheat may be uprooted as well. Both must be allowed to grow until the harvest.
Our Lord is teaching us something profound about the mercy of God. God delays judgment because He desires salvation. He does not delight in the punishment of sinners but longs for their repentance and conversion. If He were to bring immediate judgment upon every sinner, justice would certainly be served…but there would be little opportunity for hearts to change.
And so, God gives the world time. He gives each one of us time to turn away from sin and return to Him. He pours out countless graces, blessings, and opportunities on us and gives us everything we need to choose Him. The choice, however, is ours.
The harvest will come. There will indeed be a day when Christ returns in glory, when good and evil are separated forever. The righteous will receive their reward and those who have rejected God will face the consequences of their choice. But that day has not yet arrived. Today is still a day of mercy.
That is why we should never waste the time God has given us. Use it to grow in holiness, deepen conversion, and pray for those who are still far from Him.
I especially invite you to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for the conversion of sinners and the salvation of souls. As Our Lord told St. Faustina, it is a powerful prayer that obtains great graces for those most in need of His mercy.
As Christians, we rejoice that God is patient with us. But His patience is not permission to remain where we are. It is an invitation to become saints. Until the harvest comes, let us continue to pray, to sacrifice, to persevere, and to proclaim the Gospel, so that as many souls as possible may be gathered into the Lord’s harvest.
May God bless you now and always!
Fr Alex Pumphrey, MIC
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Contact Father Alex at info@divinemercy.org.uk
Please send us your prayer intentions! (click here). We will place them at the foot of our altar in the Divine Mercy Apostolate’s Chapel here in West Ealing, London and will remember them in our daily Chaplets of Divine Mercy.
