Judgement Will Come, No Doubt

𝐉𝐔𝐋𝐘 𝟑𝟏, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓. 𝐈𝐆𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐔𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐎𝐘𝐎𝐋𝐀, 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭

𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐄𝐱𝐨 𝟒𝟎:𝟏𝟔-𝟐𝟏, 𝟑𝟒-𝟑𝟖

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟖𝟒:𝟑-𝟔, 𝟖-𝟏𝟏 “𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐎 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐌𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐝.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓: 𝟏𝟑:𝟒𝟕-𝟓𝟑

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒐𝒖𝒔.” (𝒗.49) 

          For the people to be able to understand his teachings, Jesus used parables to make it easier for his listeners to discover the truth and he usually adapts his teachings either to the existing landscape and or seascape such as this one depending on the place where he was giving a teaching.

         And this was probably one of the most significant parables of Jesus in that he gave his disciples also a foreshadow of their future commission which Jesus will give to them before he takes his seat at the right hand of God.   

         If you have been following through the readings in the past several days, you will notice that some of the Gospels were being repeated even within days apart from each other and, while I’m not aware of any particular reason at this time, I would venture to say that the Church probably believes there is a need to drum up on us these Gospel passages to help develop the faith of believers and also as a guide for us to remember and keep the Words of Jesus to heart.

         Speaking to fishermen this time and drawing their attention to the similarity between what he is preaching and their occupation so that they can easily identify themselves with the parable, Jesus talked of how all types of fish are caught in the net when fishermen adopt the trawl fishing method.

         As in the parable of the weeds and the wheat that are separated at harvest, the fishermen also wait until they reach the shore where they will separate their catch. They will throw away the bad ones and keep the good ones to sell.

         If we are to relate this scenario to our present situation, what Jesus was saying in this parable is that we who are in the Church today cannot discriminate and be exclusive in our approaches to draw people in but it must be inclusive which means that when we evangelize we have to keep our doors open to all kinds of people and leave to God the authority to judge and sift who among those in the Church will finally enter the Kingdom of Heaven on judgment day.

         What this parable emphasizes is what Jesus also pointed out in the parable of the weeds and the wheat – that the time for separation will definitely come when the bad and the useless will be thrown away to fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, while the good and useful ones will be allowed to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

         This parable should serve as a grim reminder for those who patronize the pending bill on divorce that may at some point include the legalization of abortion and, perhaps lead to other proposals such as the legalization of same-sex marriage, as well as the propensity of corrupt government officials who exploit the poor and use their positions to enrich themselves such as those who dip their hands in the public coffers.

          Let me stress, however, that we don’t know who among us will be allowed entry into the Kingdom of Heaven for it is God alone who judges. But we know who among us will not make it to the Kingdom of Heaven which is why we constantly need to look inwardly and see how near or far are we to God. Having faith is not enough in the same way that knowing about God is also not enough.

         Another highlight of this parable of the fishing net was the response the disciples gave when Jesus asked them “𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔?” (𝒗.51) Jesus knew at this point the presumptive nature of the responses the disciples gave and this was the reason why he told them the parable of the householder to provide them with a preview of how they are to use what they learned when they begin to evangelize.

         In adding this parable, Jesus was telling his disciples that the teacher of the law should be like the householder or owner of a house who regales his visitors with old heirloom pieces that he has kept and some of the new things he recently purchased that are also of value.

         What Jesus told his disciples and he is telling us now that we are to bring the Good News to others who are in the world and for us to draw on our old faith experiences and training that we have gathered in the past and to apply these biblical truths to new and current situations.

         We are not being compelled to set aside the old traditions and everything we have learned but that we should make use of these knowledge and old practices that are good to put light to the present that will help keep these truths fresh and alive for Jesus did not come to remove the law but to enrich it with his teachings and his love.

         And as with his disciples, Jesus is also telling us whom he has commissioned to preach and teach to make use of the old treasures of knowledge and wisdom that we may have picked up along the way to illuminate the present world that we live in.

         In other words, our primary duty is to evangelize (𝐄𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐢 𝐍𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢 𝟏𝟒, 𝟏𝟖) and to go and make disciples of all nations (𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟐𝟖:𝟏𝟖) by using our gifts culled from the teachings we have received in the past and driven by our commitment to the Gospel to help bring to light in this present time the truths about the Kingdom of Heaven. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘺 31, 2025)