One of my most treasured possessions is a plain plaster statue of a French parish priest known universally as the Curé d’Ars—so named because for over 40 years he served the parish of Ars-en-Dombes.
John-Marie Baptiste Vianney (whose feast day we keep on August 4th) was brought up in a peasant farming family near Lyons. He was born in 1786 and as a child of farmers he was given very little formal education. Yet, by the time he was 20 he had heard God’s call to ordination and had begun to study for the priesthood. He found study very hard and on more than one occasion his superiors thought to end his time in the seminary. However, they noted his devotion to God and a quality of holiness which far outweighed academic ability. They saw a young man whose heart God had touched.
He was ordained and after a curacy he was appointed the Parish Priest of a backwater village—Ars. He went there in 1818 and remained until his death in 1859 on August 4th. Very quickly he gained a reputation for being a preacher and people began to flock to hear him. At the same time he became known as a priest who could give wise and gentle counsel to souls in distress. Very soon people began to consult him and to bare their souls to him.
The trickle of people became a stream and then a torrent. Many came to him to receive both God’s forgiveness and wise counsel. All was rooted in personal prayer and devotion. He would preach a sermon daily at 11am and then spend many hours in hearing confessions and giving spiritual direction. He was often moved to tears by the things people told him and he brought to them the comfort born out of someone who understood human weakness and the power of God’s love.
He was offered more important jobs in the Church and he also struggled with a call to the monastic life but he stayed where God had put him and in so doing put the little village of Ars on the map—not only in his own day but for all time.
Not surprisingly, after his death, he was declared a Saint and he became known as the Patron Saint of Parish Priests. As an example of the devotion and service priests are called to emulate, this is hardly surprising. The simple statue I have, unadorned by paint, is a reminder of what priesthood means. Here’s one of my favourite sayings of his:
Speaking of the difference between private and public prayer, he said:
“Private prayer is like straw scattered here and there : if you set it on fire it makes a lot of little flames. But gather these straws into a bundle and light them and you get a mighty fire, rising like a column into the sky. Public prayer is like that.”
As the Lectionary takes us through Matthew’s Gospel, we come to the Parable of the Good and Bad Seed – or the Wheat and the Tares. The gardening or farming theme continues – I suspect Jesus could well be a fan of Gardener’s World or Farming Today – so last week we had the Parable of the Sower where the Sower sowed seed extravagantly, broadcasting widely, so that it fell on a variety of different types of ground. In today’s story however, Jesus focuses on the contrast between the good and bad seed; or between the wheat and the tares as some translations have it.
Historically and in biblical texts, a tare is a plant called Poison Darnel (or Lolium temulentum if you’re BBC TV Gardener, Monty Don). The thing about this particular plant is that it grows to look exactly like wheat in its early stages – it’s pretty much indistinguishable – and of course that’s why the Master doesn’t want his servants to pull up the weeds, for in doing so they might pull up the wheat too. And every grain, every seedling is precious to him.
Of course when the disciples later ask for the parable to be unpacked, Jesus explains that the field is the world, the sower is the Son of Man and he refers to the wheat as the children of the kingdom and the tares as the children of the evil one. I have to admit, there’s a part of me that struggles with this, for I think there’s a temptation from this to assume that the world is simply divided into good people and wicked people, with the good ones destined for heaven and the baddies destined for hell. Almost as if there’s no choice or agency in the matter.
But I think it’s a wee bit more complicated than that… For a start the good and the bad are indistinguishable – the tares look just like the wheat: so much so that the workmen in the field would have a hard time telling them apart and might finish by uprooting the wrong ones. What Jesus says is that the moment of sorting and judgement will come later. And anyway, it’s not for us to judge, for there is only One who can judge and who can truly discern what lies in people’s hearts. There’s a warning here – not to think that we can take a glance at someone and simply write them off as being what we might consider to be a bad seed. I think anyone who’s experienced being marginalised at some point in their lives will have a sense of what it’s like to be on the receiving end of that. Yet of course, in these polarised times, that’s what we’re constantly being encouraged to do, isn’t it? To make judgements about others; to decide whether they’re in or out. And if we don’t like the cut of their jib or the way they think or live their lives, then we’re encouraged to consign them to the fire, pronto. But that’s not what the Lord of the Harvest would have us do. No, he says, let them grow together…
And by the same token, it can be all too seductive to simply assume that we’re the good seed – that somehow, we’ve got it right and that we’re just fine and dandy as we are. But again, I think we’re being invited to look deeper than that.
Because as I pondered further on this story, it seemed to me that both the good and the bad seed can sit within each of us. There are times when the fields of our hearts are full of ripening corn; when they are yielding good fruit for the kingdom. But there are other times when the tares grow up and diminish the potential harvest. When the Evil One gets to us and sullies the crop. When we get seduced or distracted, or pulled away from God.
St Augustine, in a sermon on this parable, puts it rather beautifully:
“Listen, dearest grains of Christ; listen, Christ’s precious ears of wheat; listen, Christ’s dearest corn. Take a look at yourselves, go back to your consciences, interrogate your faith, interrogate your love, stir up your consciences. And if you discover that you are good grain, let the thought occur to you, ‘Whoever perseveres to the end will be saved.’
Any of you who, on shaking up their consciences, finds themselves among the weeds must not be afraid to change. The command hasn’t yet been given to cut, it isn’t the harvest yet; don’t be today what you were yesterday, or at least don’t be tomorrow what you are today.” [1]
‘You must not be afraid to change.’ Augustine is encouraging us to take a good look at ourselves and our motivations; to see where our hearts lie, But he also sees in each of us the possibility to change. For tomorrow comes with a new dawn.
There may be times when we realise that the tares are taking over, but the Good News is that nothing is irredeemable with and through Jesus, for our God is the God of new beginnings and new life; of forgiveness and fresh starts; always ready to plant seed afresh in the fields of our hearts. Perhaps that’s also why letting the two grow together is important – because in God’s economy, tares – through the power of Jesus – can become wheat. There is the potential in all of us; none of us is a lost cause to our Father in heaven.
And finally, (because the more you ponder one of Jesus’ stories, the more viewpoints you discover…) we’ve thought about being the seed, but it’s also worth thinking about what sort of sowing we are doing. How – and what – are we planting into other people’s lives? Are we working for the Son of Man and planting seed that will yield a harvest; wheat with the potential to become the bread of life? Or are we coming by night and sowing bitter tares in others’ fields? When we pass judgement about people and spread negativity we’re sowing those tares; when we close our hearts and our minds to people, we’re sowing those tares. We have to be vigilant to ensure that we’re always planting the good seed.
The raising and nurturing of plants is a long game. Last week our preacher talked about how ‘much of God’s work happens beneath the surface. Seeds spend a long time underground before anyone sees signs of life.’ And she went on to say that
‘God is often working beneath the surface long before we can see the results. […] Our role is to cooperate. […] Every act of kindness is tending the seed. Every prayer is watering the seed. Every act of hospitality is nourishing the seed. […] we are cultivating the ground where God is already at work.’ [2]
Jesus calls us to sow good seed in our own lives and the lives of those around us; to beware being seduced by the Evil One into planting bitter tares; and to leave the final judgement to Him.
Amen.
[1] St Augustine – Sermon 73A on the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares
[2] Rachel Griffiths – sermon preached on the Parable of the Sower – St Mary-at-Latton 12 July 2026
Piers Northam teaches Interior Design at the Inchbald School of Design, London. He is priest in The Church Of England and particularly serves at St Mary-at Latton- Harlow.
Raymond Raynes, a former Father Superior of the Community of the Resurrection Mirfield, once asked a group of young people he was teaching: “Can anyone tell me what a saint is?” A young lady on the back row shot up her hand and said, “Yes, Father, a saint is a dead Christian.” Fr. Raynes thought that to have to be dead in order to become a saint was rather depressing.
A more positive answer is that of Archbishop Alban Goodier who wrote:Let us remember that to become saints we have only to be what God wants us to be; To do what God wants us to do; To forget ourselves and never forget God. In order to achieve this we need: Perfect simplicity with regard to ourselves, Perfect contentment with all that comes our way, Perfect peace of mind in utter self-forgetfulness. And all this becomes easier the more we realize the absolute goodness and greatness of God.
Today is the feast of St. John the Baptist and any examination of his life shows us that in every sense of Archbishop Goodier’s description of a Saint, John the Baptist ticks all the boxes.
God wanted John to be a person of prayer, of zeal, of conviction and of action and he was all these things.God wanted him to be a voice crying in the wilderness of a self-centred and self-preoccupied world that people were to prepare themselves for the coming of God amongst them as the Saviour. He would deliver people from all that prevented the love of God growing in their hearts and who would return them to a rightful relationship with Him through repentance – a turning of their lives back to God. John fulfilled all of God’s hopes.
He never sought anything for himself except to serve God. So he could say to his disciples about Jesus . ‘Look, there is the Lamb of God’ and, later, when his disciples told him that Jesus was also baptizing and everyone was now going to him rather than to John, he replied simply that Jesus must increase whilst he, John, decreased. He showed forgetfulness of self whilst never forgetting who was God. When John came briefly onto the centre stage of the sacred drama which would bring Jesus to lead and love His Father’s people into the Kingdom, John was happy with His work as Fore-runner or as the other John put it more beautifully, The friend of the bridegroom. He attracted the crowds and had close disciples but when the time came he faded quietly into the background. Eventually he was arrested and thrown into prison because of his outspokenness towards the sin of the King, Herod.
Then he was beheaded.
And throughout all that happened to him, he was at peace because he was full of God. He recognized the greatness and goodness of God. It was God that John Proclaimed. It is what made him a saint. One of the special Eucharistic prayers for Saints days tells us what a saint is called to be and once again, John the Baptist fulfils this role perfectly.
In the darkness of this passing age They [The Saints] proclaim the glory of your kingdom. Chosen as lights in the world,they surround our steps as we journey on towards the city of eternal light where they sing the everlasting song of triumph. In communion with angels and archangels and all who have served you on earth and worship you now in heaven, we raise our voices to proclaim your glory,
The connection between the saints in heaven and us on earth who are also called to sainthood is that in God’s scheme of things, we are all one, at least in destiny if not yet in substance. St Paul often referred to God’s people as God’s holy ones or saints and thus reminds us that sainthood is about holiness. Holiness is not something we can buy off the shelf or award ourselves, or even earn through trying to gain pious brownie points. It is a gift of God which is His alone to give. It comes to us through the grace he pours into us. We can call that filling us with God. We can call it becoming saintly.
Archbishop Goodier, said that Christ came not to call saints but to MAKEsaints and often he does this out of weak, sinful and unpromising people. Saints are not only models of holiness for us to imitate, they are reminders that God’s grace can outshine every human flaw. Despite all our worst efforts God simply loves us into holiness and that is both comforting and encouraging. And, just as the example of good people around us help to encourage us in our life of faith, so the saints who have travelled this often rough and rocky road can be a great help.
St. John the Baptist brings us in touch with the unique examples of holiness which he shows us in his own life. He turns our vision towards God because that is what his life was all about. To to be inspired by him, to share his vision is surely an excellent reason to go along with him as a special heavenly friend. Our friend and as John said, the friend of the bridegroom (John 3: 29) The one who has an intimate closeness to Jesus himself. And that closeness is brought home to us in a particularly spectacular way in the event which precedes John’s birth, which we know of as the Visitation.
After The Blessed Virgin Mary accepts God’s will that she is to be the mother of Jesus, she goes off to spend time with her cousin Elizabeth, who also is involved in a miracle of her own. Her barren womb is now fertile, by God’s decree, and in her womb is being formed the future John the Baptist. St. Luke tells us that as Mary greeted Elizabeth the child in her womb leapt for joy. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She proclaimed, Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. This moment led St. Anselm to begin his prayer about St. John the Baptist, with these words:
St John, You are that John who baptized God; You were praised by an archangel before you were begotten of your father; you were full of God before you were born of your mother; you knew God before you knew the world.
Anselm’s words are tremendous and absolutely vital if we are to understand something really fundamental about saints and about holiness and about ourselves. I have already drawn attention to the fact that Christ makes us saints and that holiness is a gift from God. Now – St. Anselm tells us precisely what that means. John the Baptist he says, was, full of God and that he knew God before he knew the world. St. Anselm says something very profound. Saintliness is all about God and God’s action in our lives. It’s about recognizing God at work within us, filling us with Himself. It’s as if God is filling the womb of our soul and we are carrying him as he leaps for joy within us.
And if we are full of God we shall indeed know him and this knowledge is far greater than anything we shall acquire in the world. Being full of God is something we should long to be.
5 years ago today, my dear friend Joyce Smith died suddenly and we have missed her ever since. So today I am posting one of her delightful contributions to this blog. The photos were all her own and this was centred on a Kingfisher and on her patience in waiting to see it. The final comment is about the joy and gladness of God given to all who seek Him, as Joyce certainly did.
My friend Joyce Smith has sent me this lovely tweet in 2021.
“This little kingfisher posed for about 15 minutes at Fisher’s Green. We might have been looking for the elusive bittern, but the kingfisher certainly made the trip worthwhile!”
We live in an ‘instant’ society where we want immediate action, results or answers. This is true in Christian terms too. Many prayers are filled with demands or browbeating of God. But in our relationship with God there is a need for us to be patient. Had Joyce failed to be patient she might have missed the Kingfisher. The ‘elusive bittern’ is a joy to come on another day. The Kingfisher kindly offered an alternative view. It must have sensed a bit of disappointment because it stayed still, posing for about 15 minutes. Long enough to enjoy its colourful presence. Long enough to remind us that sometimes it is the things least expected which bring us joy and enlightenment.
The Psalmist tells us to be still and wait patiently for God to drop by.
There is a Taizé song, Wait for the Lord, sung often in Advent, but appropriate to think about at any time when we long for God or for a sign of his presence.
The Taizé song tells us that God’s day is always near. His presence is close to us but we must prepare our hearts to receive him and clear away all the things that might get in the way and stop us meeting Him. His ‘Glory’ is rightly portrayed often as an amazing display of God’s holiness which is a shewing of God’s presence. It’s posh name is from the Greek, Theophany. An obvious example is the Transfiguration of Jesus on the Holy Mountain. A spectacular event but personally it is when we see God not with our eyes but in our hearts where God reveals himself in a special way. It may be an awesome thing but it is a source of rejoicing because, as the Taizé song and Joyce’s kingfisher tells us, those who seek and wait for God will be rewarded with joy and gladness.
Wait for the Lord, his day is near Wait for the Lord, be strong take heart Prepare the way for the Lord Make a straight path for Him The Glory of the Lord shall be revealed All the Earth will see the Lord Rejoice in the Lord always
Mr G's Ponderings 