Thursday of the
Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Exodus 40:16-21.34-38; Matthew 13:47-53)
We might call the significance of the two parables in
today’s gospel “a matter of emphasis.”
Jesus emphasizes the bad fish and the new teaching. He summarily says the good fish will be put
into buckets but explains that corrupt people are like bad fish and will be
thrown in fiery furnaces. Jesus more
subtly emphasizes his new teaching in the storeroom of wisdom by inverting the
expected order of words. Rather than speaking
of old before new, he gives priority to his new teaching before the ancient
wisdom of the Scriptures.
The new teaching is the kingdom of heaven which now has definitively
come through Jesus’ presence. It brings
joy, peace, and happiness to those who repent of their sins. The old teaching – the Law and its
commandments – has not been suspended but human concern goes beyond keeping its
statues. The bad fish are those who
never repent, that is, never look at their faults, ask forgiveness, or endeavor
to live Jesus’ new righteousness.
Here again Jesus challenges the sensibilities of the modern world. We like to think that we can get away with doing
evil. Many have no problem with telling
a lie or absenting themselves from Mass on Sundays as long as they help the
poor. Jesus is indicating that there is
a problem. He would agree with the
ancient Greek moralists who said, “First, do no evil.” Likewise, many today have trouble saying,
“I’m sorry.” Jesus would want us to do
so every time we err. It is part of what
he intends when he tells us to repent.
