Thursday, July 31, 2014
17th Week
in Ordinary Time
Feast of St. Alphonsus
1st Reading: Jer 18:1-6
Gospel: Matthew 13:47-53
Jesus said to his disciples, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a big fishing net let down into the sea, in which every kind of fish has been caught. When the net is full, it is dragged ashore. Then they sit down and gather the good fish in buckets, but throw the worthless ones away. That is how it will be at the end of time; the angels will go out to separate the wicked from the just and throw them into the blazing furnace, where they will weep and gnash their teeth.”
Jesus asked, “Have you understood all these things?” “Yes,” they answered. So he said to them, “You will see that every teacher of the Law who becomes a disciple of the Kingdom is like a householder who can produce from his store things both new and old.”
When Jesus had finished these parables, he left the place.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
When the Pharisees asked Jesus about the coming of the kingdom Jesus replied: “The Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17: 21). The original Greek used for “within you” is “entos hymon” which can also mean “in your midst”. Some scholars prefer to translate entos hymon to “in your midst” to the effect that Jesus’ answer would sound like this: “The kingdom of God is in your midst.” We find this translation consistent with Jesus’ condemnation of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. It’s not possible that Jesus could have told the Pharisees to look into their hearts and find the kingdom therein. Jesus knew what was in their hearts. He said:
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like unto whitened sepulchers…” (Matt. 23:27).
When Jesus told the Pharisees that the kingdom of God was in their midst Jesus directed their attention to what was happening before them: The blind received sight, the lame walked, those who had leprosy were cured, the deaf heard, the dead were raised, and the good news was preached to the poor. (Matthew 11:5). The kingdom of God became real with the works of Jesus in their midst.
The kingdom therefore is not a mere sentimental existence in the heart but something concretely related to the day to day events of human life. That is why the parables Jesus used to describe the kingdom were related to realities as close to human experience as land (parable of the weeds growing side by side with the wheat), air (birds of the air taking shelter on a tree that sprouts from a small seed such as mustard) and sea (today’s parable of the fishing net).
By continuing the works of Christ we establish God’s kingdom on earth.— Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: [email protected]. Website: www.frdan.org.
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