Word to the Wise
Sunday, July 24, 2011 - 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time - A
[1 Kgs 3:5, 7-12; Rom 8:28-30; Matt 13:44-52 or 13:44-46,13]Again, 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.....
Some years ago I was invited to preach a retreat for the Brothers of the Sacred Heart who have some high schools in the Gulf South. At that time (and perhaps still) they had the policy of inviting lay staff members from the schools to join them on retreat. The style of the retreat was based on a model developed by a Dominican organization known as PARABLE. The name doesn't refer to the scriptural "parables" of Jesus but to the style of the retreat which is meant to be a living "parable" of religious life. All the preaching is based on the scriptures of the day in the lectionary, and takes place at Morning Prayer (first reading) and Eucharist (gospel). The rest of the day is spent in silence. In the Evening, after supper, there was an optional "Compline" at which participants could share their own reflections on the scriptures of the day.
At one of these evening sessions, there was a female staff member from one of the high schools on the Gulf Coast. The gospel of the day included the parable in today's gospel about the Kingdom being like a net thrown into the sea. The lady shared the fact that her uncle was a fisherman out of Biloxi, MS. His "competition" included many Vietnamese fishermen who had emigrated to the U.S.A. years ago. She related that her uncle had noticed that the Vietnamese fishermen never threw anything away, whereas her uncle went through the contents of the net and sorted things out. Her closing line was, "I find myself hoping the God is Vietnamese!" I have never forgotten those words!
Her hope is a powerful hope, but Jesus seems to allow for the fact that some folks are not going to care what happens "at the end of the age." Without faith, there is no "end of the age," only the end of natural life. If that life is lived destructively, others will suffer in this life as a result, but so what? You only get to "go around once!" (Unless one believes in reincarnation - which is not a Christian concept!) On the contrary, we Christians believe in life beyond this life. We cannot live now as if there is no tomorrow. The ultimate "tomorrow" is eternity!! I'm praying that all of us will be "keepers!" AMEN