Seventeenth Thursday of Ordinary Time

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 are either good or bad fish. Righteous or wicked. This is the judgement that is awaiting us at the end of our lives. We will either be gathered into God's Kingdom and enjoy the Heavenly Banquet or we will be thrown into the fires of Hell. We will be judged by our actions. Our good deeds and our wicked ones. We will come face-to-face with our true selves and in the end we will know exactly why we were sorted to Heaven or Hell. We can only hope that our faith and love are true and holy and not misguided and corrupted by personal desires. So let us make every effort now… this day… to know, love, and serve God and our neighbors to the best of our abilities so that when the day comes and we are judged by God he shall see that we reflected His Goodness in the world and not our own selfishness.

Are we acting like good or bad fish? How can we grow in righteousness and rid ourselves of wickedness? Are we reflecting God's Goodness in our lives?

O Lord, help us to be good fish in the sea of your love and mercy.

Amen.