From: Matthew 13:47-53
The Net
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(Jesus said to His disciples,) [47] "Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like
a net which was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind;
[48] when it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the
good into vessels but threw away the bad. [49] So it will be at the
close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from
the righteous, [50] and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men
will weep and gnash their teeth.
[51] "Have you understood all this?" They said to Him, "Yes." [52] And
He said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the
Kingdom of Heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure
what is new and what is old."
[53] And when Jesus had finished these parables He went away from there.
Commentary:
47. "Fish of every kind": almost all the Greek manuscripts and early
translations say "All kinds of things". A dragnet is very long and
about two meters wide; when it is extended between two boats it forms
double or triple mesh with the result that when it is pulled in it
collects all sorts of things in addition to fish--algae, weeds, rubbish,
etc.
This parable is rather like the parable of the cockle, but in a fishing
context: the net is the Church, the sea the world.
We can easily find in this parable the dogmatic truth of the Judgment:
at the end of time God will judge men and separate the good from the
bad. It is interesting to note our Lord's repeated references to the
last things, especially Judgment and Hell: He emphasizes these truths
because of man's great tendency to forget them: "All these things are
said to make sure that no one can make the excuse that he does not know
about them: this excuse would be valid only if eternal punishment were
spoken about in ambiguous terms" (St. Gregory the Great, "In Evangelia
Homilae", 11).
52. "Scribe": among the Jews a scribe was a religious teacher, a
specialist in sacred Scripture and its application to life. Our Lord
here uses this word to refer to the Apostles, who will have the role of
teachers in His Church. Thus, the Apostles and their successors, the
Bishops, are the "Ecclesia docens", the teaching Church; they have the
authority and the mission to teach. The Pope and the Bishops exercise
this authority directly and are also helped in this by priests. The
other members of the Church form the "Ecclesia discens", the learning
Church. However, every disciple of Christ, every Christian who has
received Christ's teaching, has a duty to pass this teaching on to
others, in language they can understand; therefore, he should make sure
he has a good grasp of Christian doctrine. The treasure of Revelation
is so rich that it can provide teaching which applies to all times and
situations. It is for the word of God to enlighten all ages and
situations--not the other way around. Therefore, the Church and its
pastors preach, not new things, but a single unchanging truth contained
in the treasure of Revelation: for the past two thousand years the
Gospel has always been "good news".
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.