n the liturgical spirit of Feria IV after the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, we are drawn into profound reflections on virtue, patience, and the hidden work of God within the soul. Our meditations center on St. Paul’s exhortation in Colossians 3:12-17, where he calls the faithful to “put on…compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,” and the parable of the wheat and the tares in Matthew 13:24-30, where Our Lord warns against a premature uprooting of evil. Together, these passages reveal the virtues essential for Christian life and the delicate balance between striving for holiness and bearing with the imperfections both in ourselves and in others.
Clothed in Virtue: Colossians 3:12-17
In Colossians 3, St. Paul outlines what it means to be “God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,” emphasizing virtues that foster unity and peace within the Christian community. Commenting on this passage, St. John Chrysostom notes that St. Paul lists these virtues as a kind of garment for the soul: “We have laid aside the garment of sin; let us now put on the holy garment of virtue, that we may appear not in nakedness, but adorned with righteousness” (Homily on Colossians). To be clothed in virtues like compassion and kindness is to reflect the very image of Christ Himself, becoming instruments of God’s mercy in the world.
Among these virtues, St. Paul especially emphasizes forgiveness and love, which he calls “the bond of perfection.” St. Augustine reflects that true love within the Church does not permit disunity. Instead, as he writes in Confessions, “in loving my neighbor, I love the one who has made me, because we are all in Christ one single body.” Augustine reminds us that love is the final mark of holiness, binding the virtues together and perfecting them, as “it was love that moved Christ to suffer for our sins and restore us to grace.”
The Patient Gardener: Matthew 13:24-30
In Matthew 13, Jesus describes the Kingdom of Heaven as a field where wheat and tares grow together, sown by different hands. St. Jerome, in his commentary on Matthew, explains that the “good seed” represents the children of God, while the “tares” are the offspring of the devil (Commentary on Matthew). Importantly, the master of the field counsels against uprooting the tares immediately, fearing that in doing so, the wheat might also be disturbed. This imagery speaks to the patience of God, who permits both good and evil to coexist in the world for a time, waiting until the final judgment when He will separate the two.
The wisdom of the master in waiting for the harvest time teaches us the virtue of patience in dealing with imperfection and sin—both within the Church and within ourselves. St. Gregory the Great, in his Homilies on the Gospels, writes that “the patience of God is shown in His forbearance toward the wicked, and in not separating them from the good until the time of harvest.” This patience, he explains, is not indifference but mercy, allowing time for repentance. Just as the tares might one day become wheat by the transforming power of grace, God calls us to bear with others’ failings and imperfections, fostering hope that they, too, might be drawn to conversion.
Applying These Virtues Today
Together, Colossians 3 and Matthew 13 challenge us to live out a patience that imitates God’s own forbearance, while clothing ourselves in virtues that bear witness to His love. The Fathers remind us that such virtues—compassion, forgiveness, love—are not mere external practices, but spiritual garments that must envelop the soul and shape our inner dispositions. In a world often impatient for immediate change, we must be attentive to the long, hidden work of grace in the lives of others and in ourselves.
St. Ambrose encourages us to remember that “the season of fruit is hidden, but the fruit is certain” (On the Mysteries). The work of sanctification is gradual, and so we must not despair over the apparent mix of “wheat and tares” within the Church or our own souls. Trusting in God’s timing, we should seek to cooperate with His grace, knowing that He alone can bring each soul to full maturity in due season.
In this way, we live out the liturgical call of the Feria: abiding in humility, patience, and charity, knowing that all growth belongs to God. Our role is to remain faithful, clothed in virtues, and to allow ourselves to be instruments of His mercy in a world much in need of His love. May we, through the prayers of the saints, receive the grace to wait upon the Lord, growing in love and charity, as we await the final harvest of His Kingdom.