6th Week after Holy Cross

1Corinthians 7:25-35 Advice to Virgins and Widows
Brothers and Sisters:
Concerning virgins, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion
as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. I think that, in view
of the impending crisis, it is well for you to remain as you are. Are you
bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do
not seek a wife. But if you marry, you do not sin, and if a virgin marries,
she does not sin. Yet those who marry will experience distress in this life,
and I would spare you that. I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed
time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be
as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not
mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and
those who buy as though they had no possessions, and those who deal
with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present
form of this world is passing away. I want you to be free from anxieties.
The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how
to please the Lord; but the married man is anxious about the affairs of
the world, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And
the unmarried woman and the virgin are anxious about the affairs of the
Lord, so that they may be holy in body and spirit; but the married woman
is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please her husband. I
say this for your own benefit, not to put any restraint upon you, but to
promote good order and unhindered devotion to the Lord.
Praise be to God always!

Matthew 13:24-30 The Parable of the Weeds Among the Wheat
Jesus put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may
be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while
everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the
wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain,
then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder
came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field?
Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy
has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and
gather them?’ But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would
uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until
the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds
first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into
my barn.’”
This is the truth. Peace be with you.

When we seek to condemn public sinners we may find we affect the faith of others around them as wheat is damaged with tares. Yet, Paul gives advice and calls out the sins of those in the various churches. The reconciliation of these two ideas is to seek to reconcile sinners, mercifully calling them to conversion. In the same way, when we sin we should seek mercy and conversion so that we may attain reconciliation.

O loving One,
you make your sun to rise on the good and the bad,
and your rain to fall upon the just and the unjust;
let the light of your divine gifts shine in the hearts of those who adore you.
Illumine us by the light of your feast,
so that resplendent with these lights we may give you glory,
now and forever.
Amen.