We
have been hearing a lot of different parables in the Gospel readings at mass
lately. Today, we hear the parable of a huge net that hauls in all kinds of fish, in
which the fishermen will separate the good from the bad. Jesus
explains that at the end of the age, the angels will take the wicked,
separating them from the righteous, throwing them into a fiery furnace where there
will be wailing and grinding of teeth. There
was a fiery place outside of Jerusalem called the Valley of Hinnom, also
referred to as Gehenna. Jeremiah refers
to that valley as a place where the pagans sacrificed children as offerings to
the idols. Both
Isaiah and Jeremiah refer to that place as a symbol of the destiny of the
wicked, as fiery furnace and place of torment where there will be no
consolation or comfort, a place for those who will be excluded from God’s
divine blessing in eternal life. I
remember once when a rabbi was asked a question by a Christian about the
specifics of heaven and hell, of how the Jewish people conceptualized those two
places, he explained that the Jewish faith places greater emphasis on their
conduct in this current life, in obeying God’s will and following his law and
commandments, as opposed to trying to imagine what heaven and hell will be like
for them. In
this Year of Mercy, in which we are called by Pope Francis and our Church
leaders to be merciful like the Father and to practice the corporal and
spiritual works of mercy in our daily lives. Lord,
help us to follow your word in our daily lives.
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