The Gospel reading for today on the feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori gives us a good picture of how God gathers in his people. “The kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind.” Try to visualize throwing one of those huge nets into the sea. What would you be thinking at that moment? Most likely, you would be hoping for a great catch of fish. If the net was overflowing, you knew that your prayer had been answered!
“When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away.” Sounds pretty easy and acceptable. Ok, they keep the good and throw away the bad. But, if you take it as referring to people, it sounds and looks a lot different. I guess we need to decide what good means. Does it mean just going to Mass on Sunday? Those of us who are a little bit older may remember being told that if we didn’t go to Mass on Sunday we were going to Hell. Sounds a little strong doesn’t it? But we need to remember that one of the Ten Commandments is to keep holy the Sabbath. Is that just a suggestion? Definitely not!
The priests at my parish spent a lot of time teaching us about the liturgy. For some of us we were hearing it for the first time. The Mass and the Eucharist are the best gifts that we have been given from above. We should go beyond attending and move into really participating. It is good to understand what is going on during the Mass. A former bishop in our diocese told us permanent deacons that the Mass starts with the Sign of the Cross and ends with the Sign of the Cross. In between those two benchmarks we are outside of time and space. We are on Calvary! That may sound radical to some of you. And it was to me when I first heard it. We really need to understand how important this is.
“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.” In my many years of life, I have come across several commentaries saying that Hell does not exist. Scripture is telling us something totally different.
Moving from that thought though, this is all centered around love. The Lord is not attempting to scare us into heaven but rather, is loving us to heaven. I thought for many years that God wouldn’t see me as lovable. That is a lie from the pit of hell. It took me a while to learn that I am lovable and I am loved. I would challenge you to come to a place where you believe it also!
Serving with joy!
La lectura del Evangelio de hoy, en la fiesta de San Alfonso Ligorio, nos da una buena imagen de cómo Dios reúne a su pueblo. “El Reino de los cielos se parece también a la red que los pescadores echan en el mar y recoge toda clase de peces”. Intenta visualizarte lanzando una de esas redes enormes al mar. ¿Qué estarías pensando en ese momento? Lo más probable es que esperes una gran captura de peces. Si la red se desborda, ¡sabes que tu oración ha sido respondida!
“Cuando se llena la red, los pescadores la sacan a la playa y se sientan a escoger los pescados; ponen los buenos en canastos y tiran los malos.” Suena bastante fácil y aceptable. Ok, se quedan con lo bueno y tiran lo malo. Pero, si lo tomas como una referencia a personas, suena y se ve muy diferente. Tenemos que decidir qué significa ser bueno. ¿Significa simplemente ir a misa el domingo? Los que somos un poco mayores tal vez nos acordamos que nos dijeron que si no íbamos a misa el domingo íbamos al infierno. Suena un poco fuerte ¿no? Pero debemos recordar que uno de los Diez Mandamientos es santificar el sábado. ¿Sólo es una sugerencia? ¡Definitivamente no!
Los sacerdotes de mi parroquia dedicaron mucho tiempo a enseñarnos sobre la liturgia. Para algunos de nosotros lo estábamos escuchando por primera vez. La Misa y la Eucaristía son los mejores dones que nos han regalado de lo alto. Deberíamos ir más allá de asistir y pasar a participar realmente. Es bueno entender lo que sucede durante la Misa. Un obispo anterior de nuestra diócesis nos dijo a los diáconos permanentes que la Misa comienza con la Señal de la Cruz y termina con la Señal de la Cruz. Entre esos dos puntos de referencia estamos fuera del tiempo y el espacio. ¡Estamos en el Calvario! Esto puede parecer radical para algunos de ustedes. Y lo fue para mí cuando lo escuché por primera vez. Realmente necesitamos entender la importancia de esto.
“Al final de los tiempos: vendrán los ángeles, separarán a los malos de los buenos y los arrojarán al horno encendido. Allí será el llanto y la desesperación.” En mis muchos años de vida me he encontrado con varios comentarios que dicen que el infierno no existe. Las Escrituras nos dicen algo totalmente diferente.
Sin embargo, partiendo de ese pensamiento, todo esto se centra en el amor. El Señor no intenta asustarnos para que vayamos al cielo, sino que nos ama hasta el cielo. Durante muchos años pensé que Dios no me vería como alguien digno de ser amado. Esa es una mentira del fondo del infierno. Me tomó un tiempo aprender que soy digno del amor y soy amado. ¡Te animo a que llegues a un lugar donde tú también lo creas!
¡Sirviendo con alegría!
Deacon Dan Schneider is a retired general manager of industrial distributors. He and his wife Vicki have been married for over 50 years. They are the parents of eight children and thirty-one grandchildren. He has a degree in Family Life Education from Spring Arbor University. He was ordained a Permanent Deacon in 2002. He has a passion for working with engaged and married couples and his main ministry has been preparing couples for marriage.
Featured Image Credit: Jakub Kapusnak, unsplash.com/photos/pile-of-gray-fishes-vLQzopDRSNI