THE WORD
Jer 18,1-6 / Mt 13,47-53
Jesus said to his disciples, “The kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. “Do you understand all these things?” They answered, “Yes.” And he replied, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.” When Jesus finished these parables, he went away from there.
IN OTHER WORDS
In Australia, I love watching TV fishing shows where anglers try and struggle to get that “Big One”. That mighty battle would take several minutes to a few hours. Once the fish finally gets hauled into the boat, there’s picture-taking, weighing the fish, and letting go of it back into the ocean!
The gospel today shows a different experience. It tells us that we should be the fish that want to be caught and collected. Fishermen during Christ’s time, and perhaps until now, examine the fish that they catch. If big enough for the harvest and the market, the fish is put in the bucket; small fish or diseased ones could be destroyed or thrown back into the sea.
This parable is all about what would happen at the “end-times”. The kingdom of heaven will try to catch as much fish as it can. It will admit the good and throw the bad to the fiery furnace. Are we the good fish or the bad? All of us are given the chance and enormous opportunities to be good fish and hope we be admitted to the Kingdom.
What do we need to do to become the good fish? We just need to continue to strive to trust in God in everything we do especially during very trying times. We just need to treat others as Jesus would treat them, be good to our neighbors, forgive those who have hurt us, be generous to those who are in need, heal people through our needed presence in their lives. If we strive to do all this, with God’s grace, we will be admitted to his kingdom and enjoy his presence forever.
- Fr. Elmer I. Ibarra, SVD | Sydney, Australia
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience. The Word in other words 2016
