My grandfather from Sicily loved to pick all the dandelions from the various lawns in the neighborhood, gather them together and put them in a huge pot, fill it with water and boil them. He and my mom loved the bitter liquid brewed in this batch of weeds. Yes, the dandelion is a weed; no, the dandelion is NOT a weed but a wildflower. It depends on who you talk to and how they see this perennial “growth” that causes heartache for the lawn lovers but joy for a mom and grandfather who delighted in their taste.
Jesus teaches us in one of the parables in today’s gospel to be very careful at what we do with the “weeds” of life. Our initial response is always to rid ourselves of the weeds in life, in the form of people who don’t seem to be living virtuous lives, selfish and greedy people, those who irritate us, the ones who spread lies. The list of “weeds” goes on and on.
But Jesus is teaching us that it is not up to us to judge who is or isn’t a weed and what to do with those we truly consider are weeds. Leave the judging up to God. Plain and simple. The truth of the matter is that each one of us has a bit of “weed” in us…right? And who knows, what we think and are convinced is a weed may very well be a flower. It may be even beautiful or edible, just ask my mom or grandfather.
Note: the dandelion is actually very edible and very healthy. And good for the soil to boot!!