Posted by The WORD in other words (2006) by Father Antonio Pegon SVD – Rizal Palawan
Tuesday 17th Week in Ordinary Time
In Rizal, Palawan, rice farmers practice sabog-tanim—sowing palay seeds directly into the paddies. As the seeds sprout, grass grows alongside them. When I once asked a farmer why he allowed the grass to grow with the palay, he replied: “Father, if I remove the grass, both grass and palay would be uprooted and destroyed. So, I just wait until harvest time.”
This echoes Jesus’ Parable of the Weeds among the Wheat: “Let both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time I will tell the reapers, ‘Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn’” (Matthew 13:30). Jesus explains it to his disciples (Mt 13,36-43).
We often ask: Why does God allow bad people to continue living in this world? It is a difficult question. Yet Scripture shows that God’s patience is purposeful. “The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise… but is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
God allows the weeds to remain so that His glory may be revealed in His time. His patience challenges us to be patient too, to imitate His mercy, and to trust His justice.
This reflection also calls us to imitate saints who tirelessly sowed the good seed of the Gospel among the poor and penitents. We are invited to sow the Word of God in our own contexts—families, workplaces, and communities—trusting that even amidst weeds, the seed of faith will grow.
The farmer’s wisdom reminds us: harvest time will surely come. Likewise, the end time is certain. God’s justice will prevail, and His Kingdom will be revealed in fullness. “For whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (Galatians 6:7).
The question is not whether weeds exist, but whether we are sowing good seed. Let us entrust our lives to God, cultivate patience, and persevere in sowing the Gospel. For in the end, the harvest belongs to the Lord, and His justice will be perfect.
