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Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary time Matt 13/24-33 |
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| Background: Matt assembles this week and next
week collections of parables, probably from pre-existing sources. Jesus used parables as
frequently as GK Chesterton and Oscar Wilde used paradoxes. He was in fact an itinerant
story teller which explains in part why so many people
followed him. People love stories. Parables are like a single rifle shot. They have one
point and one point only. They are not allegories, stories in which everything has a
meaning. Thus the allegorical interpretation of today’s parable was probably added by
a later author (before the composition of the Gospel, however). Tellers of parables
usually refuse to explain what there one shot story means, because in the explanation some
of the narrative power is lost. However, the main point of todays story is that despite
all obstacle, the |
read the padre |
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Story: One upon a time a battered parish
priest approached his bishop. I want to retire, he said. You’re not old enough to
retire. Yeah, but I’m worn out. My laity are fighting one another, my young people
don’t come to Church. My parish Council has no guts. My teenagers drink too much. My
staff are in constant conflict. A couple of
women are trying to take over the parish. Men can’t stand the tension. My collections
are down. Spies are reporting me to you every week. Grammar school kids are breaking
windows and writing graffiti. I receive anonymous hate mail every day. The bishop sighed
loudly, that West of Ireland sigh which suggests the advent of a serious asthmas attack.
Let me tell you about my problems. The two men
sat in silence for a few minutes after they exchanged woes. Well, said the bishop,
congratulations on having a lively parish. It’s still alive and kicking. The
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