Tuesday, September 20, some years before Synod Vatican 2 ever began, was my first class in Greek in the theologate with Father Brummel. Later that year he told the class he was going to be sent to Jerusalem at the conclusion of the scholastic year to conclude his studies for his doctorate in Sacred Scripture which is the most difficult of all doctorates to get because the candidate needs to be able to read, write, and speak Biblical Hebrew, Aramaic, Koine Greek, and Latin fluently.

In addition, the candidate also needs to know the history of the Israelites and their neighbors, their social and religious customs, their geography, and even what today is called “slang” which, in the study of the Bible, is called “Hebrewisms”.

This is why We have always suggested that people focus primarily on reading only the New Testament and even then to exclude at least the profound parts of the Epistles of Saint Paul which, as even Saint Peter said, are difficult to understand.  But even more difficult to understand is the Old Testament for the reasons We have just mentioned.

Today, in the explanation of the deeper meaning of today’s Gospel passage, We will be quoting from the Old Testament.  When you first hear these quotes, you might think they are irrelevant or even illogical. This is due in part to them being quoted out of context. The only way to understand it totally is to either have a doctorate in Scripture or to have read an exegetical explanation of it.

In today’s brief Gospel passage, We will explain the much deeper meanings of five things, namely:

1)  the “cockle”;
2)  the term “bind it into bundles to burn”;
3)  the “wheat”;
4)  the term “gather ye into my barn”;
5)  “barn”.

In this Gospel passage, Christ is using the agricultural terms with which his audience was familiar to explain Heaven.

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First, the sins of the wicked are symbolized by the “cockle” of which there are three kinds of “cockle” which symbolize the sins of:

1) extravagance;
2) avarice or greed;
3) pride.

The first of these are called “darnel” which signify extravagance.   Darnel perverts the state of the reason, just as does extravagance, according to Ezechiel 23:9:

“Upon whom she doted”.

Also, Osee 4:11:

“Fornication, and wine, and drunkenness, take away the understanding.”

And, 3 Kings 11:3, in reference to Solomon:

“His wives turned away his heart.”

The second are called “vetch” which, being bitter, signify avarice and which afflicts those with covetous eyeballs as you read in Ecclesiastes 5:12-13:

“Riches kept to the hurt of the owner. For they are lost with very great affliction”.

In other words, there is a “grievous evil” (Ecclesiastes 5:12) in gathering riches, an even worse evil in hoarding riches, and the “most deplorable evil” (Ecclesiastes 5:15) in losing or leaving them because “he hath laboured for the wind” (Ecclesiastes 5:15)!  Thus the lot of those who are extremely worldly and materialistic.

The third are called “wild oats” which, because of their uselessness, signify pride as you read in Job 11:12:

“A vain man is lifted up into pride”.

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Second is the punishment of the wicked who will, like cockle, be bound “into bundles to burn”of which there are three kinds of punishments:

1) chained in bundles;
2) extreme heat and cold;
3) an eternal black hole.

The first kind of punishment is for those who want their freedom from all of the duties and responsibilities of their state in life because this is the punishment of chains which binds them together into bundles where you read in the book of Wisdom 17:17:

“They were all bound together with one chain of darkness”.

The second kind of punishment is that of an unquenchable burning fire that does not consume and which is mingled with freezing temperatures where you read in Isaias 66:24:

“Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched: and they shall be a loathsome sight to all flesh”.

The fire burns but does not consume where you read in Wisdom 19:20:

“On the other side, the flames wasted not the flesh of corruptible animals”.

But with the excessive heat, cold is also mingled where you read in Matthew 13:42:

“Into the furnace of fire:  there shall be weeping [from the excessive heat] and the gnashing of teeth [from the intense bitter cold]”.

The Angelic Doctor, Saint Thomas Aquinas says:

“Thus the Gloss.  It will most cruelly afflict, as St. Augustine says, ‘So much hotter will it be than our fire since our fire is but mere painted fire’”.  In other words, a painting of a fire does not burn anyone or anything.

The third kind of punishment is that every punishment, of whatever kind, will be both eternal and in pitch black darkness with no light of any kind, a kind of black hole, so to speak, where you read in Matthew 25:41:

“Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels”.

It will be a tremendously intense heat, but without any light where you read in Psalm 28:7:

“The voice of the Lord divideth the flame of fire”.

In other words, a flame of fire posseses both light and heat.  But as part of the punishment of the wicked, the Lord will divide the flame of fire so that only the intense heat remains without any light.

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Third is the virtuous life of the Just symbolized by the “wheat” of which there are three kinds of “wheat”:

1) white;
2) red;
3) heavy.

The first kind of “wheat” is white because it represents the Virtue of Purity.

The second kind of “wheat” is red because it represents the Virtue of Charity of those who practice the Virtue of Purity where you read in the Canticle of Canticles 5:10:

"My Beloved is white and ruddy, chosen out of thousands”.

The third kind of “wheat” is heavy because it is heavy by the gravity of good manners where you read in Psalm 34:18:

“I will praise thee among strong people”.

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Fourth, the glory of the Just is expressed by the words “gather ye into my barn” of which there are three kinds of barns:

1) spacious;
2) refreshing;
3) enduring.

The first kind of “barn” is one that is spacious, for the sake of cordiality where you read in Psalm 25:8:

“I have loved, O Lord, the beauty of Thy House; and the place where Thy Glory dwelleth.”

The second kind of “barn” is one that is refreshing, for the sake of joy where you read in Psalm 111:3:

“Glory and wealth shall be in his house”.

The third kind of “barn” is one that is enduring due to it being eternal where you read in 2 Corinthians 5:1:

“For we know, if our earthly house of this habitation be dissolved, that we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in Heaven”.

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Fifth, the abundance of God’s rewards for the Just in Heaven which abundance is represented by:

1) corn;
2) wine;
3) oil.

The first kind of “abundance” is corn which is the joy of the vision of God the Son, Jesus Christ, where you read in Psalm 80:17:

“And He fed them with the fat of wheat, and filled them with honey out of the rock of Himself.”

In John 12:24-25 you read:

“Amen, amen I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, itself remaineth alone.  But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit”.

The second kind of “abundance” is wine which is the joy of the vision of God the Father where you read in Psalm 103:15:

“And that wine may cheer the heart of man”.

The third kind of “abundance” is oil which is the joy of the vision of God the Holy Ghost where you read in Psalm 103:15:

“That He may make the face cheerful with oil”.

Again, Psalm 44:8:

“Thou hast loved justice, and hated iniquity: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows”.  The “oil of gladness” is God the Holy Ghost.

All three kinds of “abundance” are mentioned together where you read in Genesis 27:28:

“God give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, abundance of corn and wine”.

Finally, in 2 Esdras 13:5:

“And he made him a great storeroom... of the corn, of the wine, and of the oil.”

In summary, isn’t it amazing how the immense depths of the Wisdom of God can compress so much meaning into but so few words which yet take so many, many hours of meditation to mine.

 
Resolutions

For your resolutions today, resolve to live a life of Virtue, not vice, remembering the terrible punishments of those who go to Hell - also called the “bottomless pit” - in which souls ARE really chained by actual physical chains - because the term the “chains of Hell” is not symbolic, but refers to real physical chains.  It is hoped that the horrendous punishments of Hell will be a motivational factor for everyone to firmly resolve, by the Grace of God, to never, ever, commit even one Mortal Sin.

Remember the wonderful rewards of those who live a life of Virtue, remembering how God has promised each of us who are faithful and true to Him that joy of the second kind of “barn” which is the one that is “refreshing”, saying:

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes:  and death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any more, for the former things are passed away” (Apocalypse 21:4).

As a final resolution, in the Holy Name of Jesus, and in an exercise of Catholic Charity, please contribute to the support of the Church - in this case - the Shrine of Saint Jude.  Please help us to save Souls!  Thank you for your thoughtfulness and Charity! Remember, God is never outdone in generosity!!!

Think how happy you will be when, in the next life, God shows you all of the Souls you helped to save by helping our Apostolates, including this Sermon web site, because "he who causeth a sinner to be converted from the error of his way, shall save his soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins" (James 5:20).

“And in doing good, let us not fail.  For in due time we shall reap, not failing.  Therefore, whilst we have time, let us work good to all men, but especially to those who are of the household of the faith” (Galatians  6:9-10).

“Gather up first the cockle, and bind it into bundles to burn, but the wheat gather ye into my barn” (GOSPEL, Matthew 13:30).

V   In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.

 

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