Jeremiah 14:17-22 / Matthew 13:36-43
We are often told not to take life too seriously and that we need to have a good laugh now and then; besides the saying that laughter is the best medicine.
Yet when something serious is turned into a joke too often, then the possibility is that it may not be taken seriously.
We know of many jokes about hell and the devil, but still we need to think about it seriously.
Because as much as we believe in the God of mercy and compassion, who is loving and forgiving, yet today's gospel makes it clear that eternal punishment awaits the subjects of the devil.
And just who are these subjects of the devil? They are none other than those people who fell into the temptations of the devil and ended up being his instruments of evil and wickedness to harm those who do good and want to walk the way of God.
Yes, these people who commit evil and wickedness are the darnel sown by the devil to tempt and to cause good people to fall into wicked ways and commit sin.
Yet we also need to remember that God wants to save these people. As the 1st reading says this about God: Tears flood my eyes night and day, unceasingly ...
Yes, God "cries" for these people who are trapped and held in bondage by the devil.
And we, the people of God, the wheat that He has sown in the world, need to persevere in doing good and also to persist in praying for the conversion of these people who are committing evil.
We must pray for their salvation. Because eternal damnation is not a joke.