Daily Gospel Reflection
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July 30, 2020
Jesus said to the disciples, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad.
“So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
“Have you understood all this?” They answered, “Yes.”
And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
When Jesus had finished these parables, he left that place.
Some stories cannot just be heard: they must involve us. I did not fully understand the story of my birth until my daughter was born. When my mom shared the story with me again as I held Hannah, it addressed me in a different way. Suddenly, this old experience became something shared. It opened a new intimacy in our relationship.
Jesus’ parables work on us at this level. At the end of Matthew’s “parables discourse” today, we learn that we cannot separate the parable from the teller or the audience. The crowds hear the parables as stand-alone narratives. They do not feel themselves addressed, so they walk away from Jesus.
The disciples, meanwhile, find themselves involved in the parables and take them back to the Lord. With Jesus’ help, they see themselves and him in these stories. He is the Sower of the Kingdom, the mustard seed growing in their shared life, the tiny yeast leavening their hearts and their world. He is the treasure and the pearl for which they had given all, the net thrown by the Father which has caught them up in the divine life. They understand only because these parables bring them to the Lord in humility and truth. Their intimacy with Christ trains them to bring “out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
Like the disciples, we are invited to see ourselves addressed in these parables and bring them to Jesus in prayer. He will lead us to find ourselves involved in those fields, that kitchen, that ocean of the world. At the same time, he will show himself at work: sowing, growing, leavening, gathering, and doing something new. Let us ask for that intimacy with Jesus, our treasure, that he may bring forth the new and the old in our lives.
Prayer
Almighty Father, you know the secrets of our hearts and, therefore, you know that we, too, are capable of doing good and ill. You even know those faults that we hide from others and those which we try to hide from ourselves. Despite this, you never fail to call us to greater heights of goodness and of love. You chose to live among us as one of us in order to raise us up. Grant that our hearts may be made new so that we might enter into your kingdom. We ask this through you son, our Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Peter Chrysologus was a pivotal bishop who preserved the faith in his region of Italy in the fifth century. He was an adult convert to Christianity, then was ordained a deacon and priest before being raised to bishop of Ravenna in 433.
Many people were still practicing paganism in Ravenna when he began his work there, and this caused other Christians to fall away from the faith. He reformed and solidified the church there by encouraging frequent reception of Communion and with his preaching. Many of his homilies are still intact—most are brief because he did not want to exhaust the attention of his listeners. “Anyone who wishes to frolic with the devil cannot rejoice with Christ,” he told his people.
The witness of his life also converted many back to the faith—he was known to have offered many works of mercy, and he attended to the people under his care with diligence.
His title, “Chrysologus,” means “golden-tongued” so we know that he had a great impact on those who heard him. During his homilies, he would become so excited and animated that he would find himself at a loss for words. His simple and straightforward explanations of what we believe led the Church to declare him a doctor of the faith. He joins 36 other saints who are also known as doctors for the way their words or example taught the faith to others. His relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
This is an excerpt from one of his homilies:
Listen to the Lord’s appeal: … You may run away from me as the Lord, but why not run to me as your father? Perhaps you are filled with shame ... Do not be afraid. This cross inflicts a mortal injury, not on me, but on death. These nails no longer pain me, but only deepen your love for me. I do not cry out because of these wounds, but through them I draw you into my heart. My body was stretched on the cross as a symbol, not of how much I suffered, but of my all-embracing love. I count it no less to shed my blood: it is the price I have paid for your ransom. Come, then, return to me and learn to know me as your father, who repays good for evil, love for injury, and boundless charity for piercing wounds.
St. Peter Chrysologus, the doctor of the Church who preached with golden words, pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Peter Chrysologus is in the public domain. Last accessed March 20, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
