In Jesus’ time, many fishermen would use cast nets as a method of fishing. These were large nets with weights at the bottom. And they would be thrown into the water and pulled up into the boat by a rope. The fishermen would then go back to the shore to separate the fish. The good-tasting fish was packed up in baskets and brought to the markets and villages to be sold. The bad-tasting fish would be thrown out because it was worthless.
Jesus uses this image – which would have been familiar to his disciples- to explain one of the most striking and challenging teachings about heaven and hell. And it concludes the section of parables in Scripture which we have been hearing about these past few weeks.
Jesus says that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a Fisherman’s net, cast into the sea, collecting all types of fish. On the day of judgment, the Angels will gather the good ones to heaven and the wicked ones will be thrown into the furnace.
This is a hard saying. But I believe that God is calling us to really meditate on the seriousness of sin and the importance of virtue and grace so we can be good fish caught and brought up to heaven.
God is very merciful, and He loves us so much. He wants all men to be saved. But sin is real, and it can separate us from His Love. And if it is grave and un-repented, one can lose salvation. But the Lord offers his incredible forgiveness and mercy if we seek it in confession.
Unfortunately, in the world today, people have lost sight of sin. Some think that we can do whatever we want without consequences and automatically go to heaven. This just isn’t what Jesus teaches.
I think this parable highlights the fact that God created all of humanity for heaven. But, we have to cooperate and persevere to become righteous so that our thoughts, our words, and our deeds are all directed towards the goal of heaven. We should aim to avoid sin out of love for Our Heavenly Father, not just to escape punishment.
One practical thing that the Saints encourage us all to do in prayer is to reflect on the pain we have caused God by our sins and the immense mercy and forgiveness He has still shown us. I pray that this leads us all to a deeper conversion and that we begin to hate our sins, even the venial ones and ask God for an outpouring of Grace to battle our daily temptations.
Jesus’ words today are tough to hear, but I don’t think He is trying to scare or condemn us. But to remind us that we must be alert and avoid evil. The world is like a large sea, filled with many types of people, – both good and bad. We pray that we may swim upstream against the current of wickedness so that when the final nets are gathered by the Angels, we may hope to be counted as one of the righteous.