The Holy Gospel according to Matthew 13:47-53
Jesus said to the 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.
The Gospel of the Lord
Reflection:
Genesis tells us that God created all that is in the universe, including all kinds of creatures that fly, slider, roam, and swim. Each kind of creature, including those in the sea, stays together. To the groups of fish, we call them “schools”. And, for the most part, each school of fish keeps to their own, mostly as a survival mechanism. Each type of fish goes about their lives following the divine laws that have ruled their existence for millions of years. However, the greatest difference between the rest of creation, including fish, and humans is that we have God-given gift of “freewill”.
Unfortunately, many of us behave like schools of fish: we spend most of our lives keeping to those that we believe are like us, while avoiding those that we perceive are different from our group. Unlike the schools of fish that are ruled by God’s laws, we tend to keep our social groups following human-made rules. We see distinctions such as skin color, place of origin, religion, political views, economic status, education, gender, sexual orientation, and many others as such.
What we forget is that we are not fish, or birds, or any other form of living creatures, but humans. We forget that we have free-will. The divine gift that enables us to choose how we act, think, and love, and, more importantly, who we love! Moreover, what we forget is that, at the end of our times, no matter what school we may be swimming with, and what schools we spend our lives avoiding, we all will be hauled into the one divine net. We will all be gathered and laid out on the shores of heaven where all of our human divisions will be null but where the angels will separate us according to how well we used our free-will to guide our lives. May Jesus’ question today finally helps us repent and understand God’s will for us.
Action of the Day:
Most probably as a child you found some affinity to a cat, a dog, turtle, panda bear, lion, tiger, or any other animal according to their characteristics and your personality. But, have you ever thought about what type of fish you mostly resemble? What characteristics do you recognize in that fish that would speak to your personality? And, more importantly, understanding those traits in you, how would you place those gifts at the service of others and be a chosen fish at the end of times?
Audio Reflection:
