A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 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.”
In sharing this with the disciples, Jesus elaborates further on the kingdom of heaven. The net thrown into the sea describes the end of the age, the final judgment. In the net are the wicked and the righteous, which the angels sort for eternal life in heaven or in condemnation. The wicked, Jesus says, will wail and grind their teeth in the fiery furnace. But the righteous, Jesus says, would “shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” In his own words, Jesus makes clear the reality of the judgment. How one responds to that makes all the difference.
God, help me see the reality of your kingdom, present in the veil of this earthly life yet still to come, when Christ your Son comes again to separate the wicked from the righteous and establish the new heaven and earth. Through the Church’s teachings and sacraments, help me today choose to live not for the mere goods of this present reality but for the reality that is to come in the full realization of your kingdom. Give me the grace, God, to know your will and serve you in this life so that for the sake of your glory I will enjoy your presence forever in the kingdom to of heaven.
From the responsorial psalm: “My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the LORD. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” Lord, have mercy on me!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.