Wisdom 12:13, 16-19 Those who are just must be kind. Psalms 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16 The Lord is kind and forgiving, rich in faithful love for all who call out.Romans 8:26-27 The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness and intercedes for us. Matthew 13:24-43 or 13:24-30 A parable involving weeds being planted amidst good seeds. At harvest time the weeds are gathered first and burned and the harvest is gathered last and stored.
Today's Gospel highlights Jesus' teaching through the use of parables. He talks to people through stories and somehow by using that style he is more able to reach people's hearts.
In the same way, I would like to share some stories with you. Stories of my life as a Maryknoll Lay Missioner with my family in the southern part of Mexico called Oaxaca. As with Jesus' tales, perhaps my personal experiences might offer you a different way of looking at things.
Oaxaca is an area with tremendous beauty and cultural richness. It is also one of the poorest places in Mexico. The poverty often forces people to migrate in search of a better life. In fact Oaxaca is what's called an "expulsion" zone. That literally means that people are "pushed" out due to harsh living conditions. Some migrate to cities in Mexico, others migrate to the U.S. Maybe there are Oaxacans living right here, in your own community.
One of the things that strikes me about the Gospel reading is that things are not what they initially seem to be. It seemed that everything would be fine with the wheat harvest. Good seed had been sown. But something had changed and it was only after time that one could see the actual results. Then Jesus uses the famous parable of the mustard seed. The tiny, tiny seed that will grow into a mighty tree. Again, the outcome wasn't what one would have initially thought. One needed to wait to see what really was going to happen.
Today in the U.S. our country faces complex realities around immigration-especially related to people coming from Latin America. It might be easy to make quick judgments about what it means to have a steady influx of folks from the south. Or to simply get angry that so many people are coming here. But like Jesus often does in his teachings, I would encourage us to remember that things are often not what they appear at first glance. As Christians we are invited to look deeper, and try-as hard as it might be-to use Jesus' example to guide us.
In Oaxaca I witnessed first hand the reasons why so many people migrate to the United States. Unemployment and underemployment are very high. Workers wages are pitifully low. Perhaps you have heard of the phenomena of factories or companies moving south of the border to keep costs down and maximize profits. Maybe you even know someone who has actually lost their job due to this reality.
Keeping factory costs down often means very low salaries. We knew one mom who worked every day assembling soccer balls and was paid one penny per ball completed. Her compensation came no where close to feeding her three children. Vicki's family, like so many others, did not have enough income to provide nutritious food to sustain itself, resulting in malnutrition and illness. Once sick, poor families have few good options for health care. Medicines are often beyond people's economic means.
Farmers faced other tremendous obstacles. Let me give you one example. Corn is a basic crop for most Mexican farmers and is also sacred to the indigenous cultures there. And yet over the past few years international trade agreements have made it very difficult for Mexicans farmers to sell their crops in the marketplace as a way to generate an income.Trade agreements have resulted in U.S. corn flooding the Mexican market, at a cheaper price than native grown corn. The Mexican farmers simply cannot compete with the inexpensive U.S. corn. The impact has been devastating in many communities where Maryknoll has worked.
Virtually every family I knew in Oaxaca had someone who had traveled to the U.S. with the prayer of getting a job and being able to send money home to help support their families-- Money for food, for medicines, money for a much needed operation.
As our communities and nation grapple with issues around immigration we are invited to look below the surface. We are invited to look not only at how we respond to immigrants in our midst, but ask why are they here? Why are they leaving their own countries? What U.S. policies, if any, might make living conditions difficult in their homelands? My years of living and working in Oaxaca helped me more deeply understand why so many Mexicans migrate to the U.S. I share my experience with you in the hope that understanding can lead to compassionate and creative responses.
In closing, I bring us back to today's Psalm. It reiterates what we all believe-the Lord is kind and forgiving, rich in faithful love for all who call out. As we call out to our Lord, in need of that faithful love in our own lives, let us be mindful of others in our midst as they call out as well. Their cries are for a better life, for an opportunity to live in a dignified manner. Neighbor, stranger, long-time citizen or recently arrived immigrant, let us not harden our hearts to the voices and prayers of those around us. May we instead listen, challenged and inspired by Jesus' relentless example to love.
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