💖 HOMILY - AUGUST 1 💖

First Reading - Jeremiah 18:1-6

Gospel - Matthew 13:47-54

Our God loves and accepts us as we are, even with our defects and deformities. However, when we encounter spiritual deformities, He gives us the opportunity to reform ourselves and be healed.

In the first reading, we learn a lesson from the potter and the clay. Jeremiah is instructed to observe the potter working on a vessel. When the vessel develops a flaw, the potter reshapes it, starting anew. The message God wants to convey through this imagery is that He is willing to change His plans in response to the people’s repentance and willingness to be reshaped by Him. If they turn back to the Lord and allow themselves to be molded, He will avert the impending disaster. This passage invites us to be open to transformation.

Today's Gospel presents the third in a set of three parables Jesus preached about the Kingdom of God and the conditions for entering it. The parable of the fishing net illustrates this. In Palestine, there were two main methods of fishing: casting a net and using a dragnet or seine. The dragnet, which gathers fish indiscriminately, represents the Church, which is a mixture of all kinds of people, both good and bad. The separation of good and bad fish happens later, symbolizing the Final Judgment when people will be sent to their respective destinies. This parable complements the parable of the weeds and the wheat, emphasizing that the Church should have an open approach to evangelization.

Jesus concludes His parables by advising His listeners to emulate wise scribes, Jewish religious teachers who specialized in Sacred Scripture and its application to life. A scribe who becomes a Christian should use his learning for Christ. Christians are expected to study both the old wisdom of their ancestors and new knowledge, passing on their understanding in ways that others can comprehend.

Dear friends, we need to learn tolerance and compassionate understanding. The lesson from this parable is that the Church is a mixed body of saints and sinners, good and bad fish. There is always a temptation for those who consider themselves more faithful to separate from the "unfaithful." But Jesus reminds us that final judgment is God's work. We must be tolerant, patient, compassionate, and understanding toward those who seem to fall short of Gospel requirements. Let us humbly acknowledge, as St. Paul did, “I am what I am by the grace of God.”

May God bless us with the humility and grace to live this truth.