We don't like to think that we have enemies. Maybe on an individual level, we don't. Maybe there is no one in our life who would do the kind of nasty thing that Jesus talks about in today's Gospel (Mt 13: 24-30) where someone deliberately goes into a field to sow weeds and try to ruin a crop of wheat. Who would do such a thing? But perhaps Jesus isn't talking about individuals. His parable is about the Kingdom of Heaven, after all. So maybe what He wants us to consider is the kind of spiritual enemy that subtly attacks the growth of the reign of God, that promotes evil in ways that may not be immediately obvious, like someone sowing seeds that only later produce a problem. So we might ask ourselves what forces are out there that operate as our "enemies." It isn't fashionable these days to talk this way, but we have to admit that there are "enemies," forces of evil, in the world. Call it Satan, of the devil, of the Evil One, or whatever name you want, but jesus is pretty clear that Satan exists and operates among us. Our human experience certainly confirms that evil is present in the world. So what are the "weeds" that Satan sows in our lives? They're probably different for each of us, since we each have those places of vulnerability, places where something subtle can be at work to undermine the work of Christ. I could go through the list of possibilities, but we all know what they are, if we take a moment to examine our lives. At our cabin we put in a new gravel driveway a year ago when we had a garage built. It seems like every day that I walk on it I see a place where crab grass or some other weed is trying to take root. Most of the time I'll stoop down and pull it out, figuring that if I don't, pretty soon the whole thing will be full of weeds. I have to stay ahead of it, a little bit at a time, so it stays looking nice. Maybe that's how we need to approach the weeds in our spiritual life as well, not with a massive herbicide project but with a little pulling of a weed here or there every day. It takes some effort to stoop down and do it, and perhaps we see the weed at a time when our hands are full so we're tempted to ignore it. But we make a mistake if we do that, because the more we let them grow, the more the weeds take over and become part of the fabric of things. So let's remember that we have an enemy, who wants us to be overwhelmed with weeds. When you see one growing, pull it out. You'll be glad you did.