In the Gospel today, Jesus compared the Kingdom of Heaven to a net thrown into the sea. The good fishes that are caught will be put into buckets and the bad will be thrown away. He asked His disciples, “Do you understand all these things?”

When I was discerning to enter the seminary, I must confess that I had a lot of questions and it seemed that everything was not clear to me. What is going to happen next? Will I be able to do the things they ask me to do? Will I be able to sustain and remain in this vocation? Jesus could have asked me if I understood all those things and my answer would be, “Not yet, Lord.” But as the years passed by, things like purpose and motivation are, little by little, getting clearer because of the experiences that I had gained these past years.

God assures all of us today that amidst the problems and difficulties we experience in the world today, He is in control. He continues to work, even without us knowing it. We may not understand things yet, but time will come and everything will be clear. In the Gospel, the net collected “fish of every kind.” Jesus assures us that we are all part of God’s plan, and no one is excluded. If we want to be with God in paradise, we need to trust and obey His plans, even if we do not yet understand.

By: Sem. Renz Marion C. Cunanan

Today’s Gospel

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.