LATER JESUS EXPLAINED THE PARABLE of the wheat and the weeds and told them two other parables:

“He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.  The field is the world; the good seed, the sons of the kingdom; the weeds, the sons of the  wicked one; and  the enemy who sowed them is the devil.  But the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered up and  burnt with fire, so will it be at the end of the world.  The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all scandals and those who work iniquity, and cast them into the furnace of fire, where there will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.  Then the just will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

THE TREASURE AND THE PEARL

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field; a man who finds it hides it, and in his joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls.  When he finds a single pearl of great price, he goes and  sells all that he has and buys it.”

THE NET

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net cast into the sea and gathering in fish of every kind.  When it was filled, they hauled it out,  and sitting down on the beach, they gathered the good fish into vessels, but threw away the bad.  So will it be at the end of the world.  The angels will go out and separate the wicked from among the just, and will cast them into the furnace of fire, where there will be the weeping, and the gnashing of teeth.”

Then  Jesus said:
“Have you understood all these  things?”

When  they replied  that  they did,  He concluded:
“So then, every Scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings forth  from his storeroom things new and old.”

Matthew 13:36-52

Meditation: The Kingdom of God on earth, the Church, is compared by Christ to a net. Just as the net contains both good and bad fish, the Church on earth contains good and bad members.  Mere membership in Christ’s Church is no assurance of holiness and eternal salvation. Even though I am in the Church, I could lose my soul.

Information from The Life of Christ “Our Lord’s Life with Lesson in His Own Words for Our Life Today”  The Catholic Press, Inc. 1959.  77-78.   © 1954 edited by Reverend John P. O’Connell, MASTD and Jex Martin, following mainly A Chronological Harmony of the Gospels by Stephen J Hartdegen OFM NIHIL OBSTAT John A McMahon; IMPRIMATUR Samuel Cardinal Stritch, Archbishop of Chicago August 1, 1953.  Print.  Drawing by Albert H Winkler.

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