Patience Among the Harvest

By Nic Herrmann

Despite growing up in the Midwest (St. Louis), I must confess, I was never educated in the growing and harvesting seasons here in the central United States. If pressed, I could tell you that the millions of acres of corn stretching from east St. Louis to Plainfield, Illinois seemed to grow all summer long, until about Halloween. Other than that, I did not pay much attention to when and how specific vegetables and grains were harvested. For this reason, I was surprised to see the large hay field on the SCL harvested and bundled just a few weeks ago. Gone were the wavy golden-green fibers that swayed in the wind, replaced with enormous, neatly packed spools of grass and grain. It reminded me of the homily I had heard just two days before, a homily given by a priest I don’t know about a Gospel I rarely pay attention to. I will steal his insights now and share them with you (I am sure he wouldn’t mind; he confessed to stealing these insights from a fellow priest).

This Gospel reading comes from Matthew, Chapter 13. Jesus presents three parables, all pertaining to agriculture. The first of the parables presents a farmer who sows good seeds in his field, only to have enemies come in the night and sow weeds. The farmhands, seeing the destruction, ask the farmer if he would like them to pull the weeds from the field. The farmer responds, “No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, ‘First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn (Matthew 13:30).”’

For the first many weeks of growing, weeds and wheat look very similar. For this reason, the message was one of patience; specifically, God’s patience with us. At the end of time, we will be judged accordingly, but not before then. Unlike weeds and wheat, humans are fungible; able to change. We awake each day with the ability to follow Christ or not. Even at our worst, we are capable of enormous, substantive change. In just a few days, we will celebrate the transfiguration of Christ; a reminder, among many other things, that through God, we can be transformed. So, we remember the parable of the weeds and wheat, and we trust that God will give us the strength to bear much fruit.

Consider joining us at Marilac Center for one of the following events:

Season of Creation: Living Waters (Ezekiel 47)
September 10, 2026
9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Marillac Assembly
Sister Susan Chase, SCL

Living waters flow . . . healing and renewing land, seas, and our responsibility toward creation. Waters flow, as a tiny stream that deepens, bringing life to dead areas and restoring ecosystems. We examine Ezekiel’s call to global restoration of life, ecological healing, the interdependence of humanity and the natural world, bringing hope for both humanity and creation.

Good Conversations: Holy Voices
September 15, 2026
9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Marillac Assembly
Fr. Kevin Cullen, SJ

Continuing in Synodality, we listen to the voices that call us to the path of holiness as we live out the Gospel call. We are wonderfully surprised to hear the voice of our Churches, our neighbors, and our own voices calling us into a deeper way of life together. And we are invited to hear Josephine Bakhita, Nicholas Black Elk, Julia Greeley, Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, and Thea Bowman, people on the road to canonization.

Beloved Discipleship: Johannine Gospel
Monday, October 12 (4 p.m.) – Sunday, October 18 (4 p.m. – Mass)
This event is held in Ross Chapel
Sr. Mary McGlone, CSJ

The Beloved Discipleship Retreat will examine the Gospel of John as the way to enter the call we each have to become beloved disciples of Jesus in today’s world. The rhythm of prayer will include times for silence, personal prayer, and individual accompaniment if requested.