Day before yesterday, The Daily Reading concerned the separation of wheat from weeds at Judgment. Today’s Reading, from Mt 13 47-53, is another description of the coming division that takes place at Judgment. Only fools would be unconcerned. Another frightening reading from Matthew:
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.”
“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.”
We each live in the “sea of people”, and can easily see the comparison of ourselves with fish in the sea. How do we avoid being among those who are thrown away?
Obviously, we avoid being wicked. How do we do that? By being obedient.
We must obey the Ten Commandments, the Two Great Commandments instructing us to love God fully and completely and our neighbors as ourselves. We must also obey “The Least Commandments”, regarding the Sacraments.
We should be Baptized, Confessed, receive real Communion, Confirmed, Married, Celibate, or in Holy Orders, and receive the Last Rites.
If we obey God’s 19 instructions, and keep our thoughts, words, and lives as pure as we can, we have a good chance of being among the “good fish”, or, at least, the “better ones”. Still, no matter how good we are, His Mercy is all that will save us.
We’ve all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Without His Mercy, we have no chance.
And, we may ask Mary to help. The sooner we start doing that, the better off we will be. We do not want to leave any stone unturned in garnering Heavenly favor. He loves His Mother, and if she is for us, we’ll be all right. It would be the height of vanity to think we do not need His Mother’s help. Spurning The Blessed Mother’s assistance may, in and of itself, may manifest enough ignorance and vanity to put us among the “trash fish”.
At all costs, we want to avoid being among the trash fish about which we are told in this: Another frightening reading from Matthew.
