Matthew 13:47-53

Jeremiah 18:1-6

Psalm 146:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6ab

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.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I pray today that I welcome the seed of the kingdom with good soil, that I be a good seed which produces abundant wheat in the kingdom, that I dwell safely in the branches of the kingdom, that I be yeast that transforms society with charity and justice, that I sell all that I have to gain the treasure of the kingdom, that I welcome the redemption purchased by your Son, and that I am a righteous fish welcomed into the bucket of eternal life.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Acceptance and Rejection in the Parables of the Kingdom: In Matthew 11-12, the narrative highlighted the growing division between those who welcomed Jesus and those who rejected him. Those who welcomed Jesus welcomed his teaching and followed him. Those who rejected Jesus rejected his teaching and refused to repent. The Pharisees largely belong to the second group and have even begun to plot Jesus’ death (Matthew 12:14). Against this background of acceptance and rejection, we can understand Jesus’ eight parables about the Kingdom. Three parables contrast how the two different groups react to Jesus and his message: the first parable (Matthew 13:1-23) contrasted good soil and bad soil; the second (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-42) contrasted good wheat and bad weeds (darnel); and the seventh, which we read today, contrasts good fish with bad fish. One parable, the third, highlighted how the small group that welcomed Jesus will expand throughout history. The fourth explained how that same small group will transform the world around them. The fifth highlighted the need for disciples to give up everything for the treasure of the kingdom. The sixth points to Jesus as the one who redeems all humanity. “Such radical discipleship stands in sharp contrast to the many who fail to value the gospel of the kingdom and accept Jesus’ call to conversion. … Despite some bad soil, bad seed, and bad fish, the kingdom will produce an abundant harvest and a great catch” (Mitch and Sri, The Gospel of Matthew, 174).

2. The Differences Between the Second and Seventh Parables: The seventh parable, that of the net thrown into the sea, is very similar to the second parable, about the wheat and weeds. They both contrast two groups that coexist throughout time but are separated at the end. The weeds and the bad fish are burned in the fiery furnace “where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth” (Matthew 13:42, 50). But how do the two parables differ? What different dimensions of the mystery of the Kingdom do they each emphasize? The second parable tells us about one of the causes of evil, the devil, who sows the seeds of evil in the field, while the seventh parable is silent on what causes some fish to be bad. The second parable also emphasizes the patience of the householder who lets the weeds grow with the wheat for the sake of the wheat. The seventh parable doesn’t emphasize the patience of the fishermen, but rather the work of Jesus’ apostles and disciples who act as “fishers of men” to gather all types of people from the sea and into the kingdom. The sea is a biblical image that often represents both the deathly abode of evil and the Gentiles. Thus, while both parables teach that there will be good and evil in the Kingdom until their final separation, one parable emphasizes the merciful patience of the Son of Man, while the other emphasizes how good and evil people will be gathered into the kingdom through the efforts of the Son’s disciples. God, so to speak, gives both the weeds and bad fish time to repent and be transformed by grace into wheat and good fish.

3. The Sign of the Broken Potter’s Vessel: In the First Reading, we see Jeremiah go to the potter’s house, take an earthen flask, and break it at the Potsherd Gate near the Valley of Hinnom. “Just as the potter’s vessel is broken, so will ‘this people and this city’ be broken in the overthrow of Jerusalem (Jer 19:11). Once again, the cause is their idolatry and detestable worship of Baal and other foreign gods, which included human sacrifice (Jer 19:1-9)” (Bergsma and Pitre, A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament, 788). The Lord, the divine potter, teaches Jeremiah that he “wants to shape Israel, his clay, into a useful vessel, yet the vessel has become ruined by its determination to do evil. Still, God has the power to reshape the fortunes of Judah, and of all nations, if they repent and yield to his will” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: Jeremiah, Lamentations, Baruch, 48). The sign of the broken potter’s vessel is the culmination of four signs that made visible what Jeremiah preached about the temple, the people, and the city of Jerusalem. “The people did not respond well to such signs of judgment, and in response to the final sign, they begin to make plots against Jeremiah (Jer 18:18). Eventually, Jeremiah is arrested, beaten, and placed in stocks near the Benjamin Gate by Pashhur, the chief priest (Jer 20:1-2). This causes the prophet to curse the day he was born in one of his most poignant laments (Jer 20:7-18)” (Bergsma and Pitre, A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament, 788).

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you are the householder. You sowed the good seed that has sprouted and grown into the Church. Do not let me be discouraged by the presence of evil in the world or even in the Church. May I be an example of conversion and repentance for all those I encounter.

Living the Word of God: What have been my thoughts about and attitude towards the scandals and evil in the Church over the past few decades? Do I know people who have left because of the scandals? How can my meditation on and understanding of the parables of the weeds and the net be beneficial when I reach out to those disaffected?