Gospel

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.

Reflection

This parable makes it clear that the plan of God is ultimately that one day evil will be destroyed. It is the thing that creates pain, suffering, death, destruction. But he also is reminding us in this passage that there is something about learning wisdom, about understanding what is really revealed to us from God. And some of its in the Old Testament, which was a kind of exclusive religion.

And the law was what was at the heart of it. And then there is the New Testament, where it's a it's an inclusive religion, and it’s all about not the law, but about forgiveness and understanding. Which is right? They’re both right. That's the key. Live in the paradox.

Closing Prayer

Father, our hope is always wrapped in your promises. Convince us of the meaning of this parable so that we can believe with you that you are engaged in the work of saving all of us, bringing us all into a new, wonderful earth. A new heaven, a new image of who we are. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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