Before I forget...   
   
There's a bit of bad in the best of us, and a lot of good in the worst of us.  True or false?  A very generous person can be hot-tempered, and a peaceful person may seem cold or unfeeling.
      In October 1945 (wasn't 1945 a great year?) Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson as the first black athlete in the big leagues.  Before they signed the contract, Rickey told Jackie, "You will have to take everything they dish out and never strike back."  Rickey was right.  Pitchers brushed him back, and opponents insulted him.  Through it all Jackie kept his cool.  In 1947 he was named baseball's Rookie of the Year.  In 1949 Jackie won the league's batting championship.  In 1961 he was elected to the Hall of Fame.  In the midst of his struggle with "good" men, Jackie might well have prayed the words of Psalm 54:
O God, by your name save me,
And by your might defend my cause.
O God hear my prayer,
Hearken to the words of my mouth.
Fierce men seek my life;
They set not God before their eyes.
Behold the Lord is my helper;
The Lord sustains my life.
Freely will I offer you sacrifice;
I will praise your name, O Lord, for its goodness,
Because from all distress you have rescued me.
Isn't it amazing what black athletes had to endure only fifty-seven years ago in American sports?  Can our teenagers learn anything from the Jackie Robinson story?  Can I learn anything from him?  As I try to live the gospel, I am inspired by Mr. Robinson& Jesus said, "Pray for those who mistreat you.  So the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well."
As disciples of Christ, people of the gospel, we have much to learn from American blacks and from the Jewish people of the Holocaust.  Both American blacks and European Jews could cry out to God, "Where are you, God?  Can't you see what's happening?  Can't you hear our cries?  Don't you see our tears?"  But no answer came.  God remained silent.  God remained still.
There's a bit of bad in the best of us, and a lot of good in the worst of us.  True or false?  With God's grace and our cooperation, the good can overcome the bad.  And when God looks at His creatures, God sees life totally, and the bad is lost and forgiven in the good.  God is patient& just like today's gospel story of weeds and wheat in a field.  It's about the struggle each of us has to do good despite our sins and failings.
As we live the gospel of Jesus, God uses us to speak and act for God.  In a society that can be violent,   unkind, and selfish, may we never stop trying to do  good& no matter what the cost is for self.
Fr. Bill