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1.Exodus
40:16-21,34-38
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2.Matthew
13:47-53
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READINGS.
1.Exodus
40:16-21,34-38
Moses
did everything just as the Lord had commanded him. In the first month in the
second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was set up. Moses
set up the tabernacle; he laid its bases, and set up its frames, and put in its
poles, and raised up its pillars; and he spread the tent over the tabernacle,
and put the covering of the tent over it; as the Lord had commanded Moses. He
took the covenant and put it into the ark, and put the poles on the ark, and
set the mercy seat above the ark; and he brought the ark into the tabernacle,
and set up the curtain for screening, and screened the ark of the covenant; as
the Lord had commanded Moses.
Then
the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the
tabernacle. Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud
settled upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Whenever the
cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out on each
stage of their journey; but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not
set out until the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was on
the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, before the eyes of
all the house of Israel at each stage of their journey.
2.Matthew 13:47-53
“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.
REFLECTIONS AND
MEDITATIONS
Where do we belong?
As we conclude the book
of Exodus, as important to the Old Testament as re the gospels to the New. In
the gospel of Matthew we have been hearing parables concerning the reign of God
(Matthew 11:2-13:53). In these readings we realize God’s merciful ways of
drawing people to His Kingdom.
The question for
meditations and reflections is that where do we belong? From the gospel reading
we hear the parable of drag-net that hauls in all kinds of
fish. From the reading it can be understood that there are many in the Church
who nevertheless are not of the Church, and therefore at length will be cast
out: but the full and perfect cleansing of them is deferred to the last day. From
the parable we understand that the evangelist made the metaphorical expression
of the Kingdom of God by applying the example of drag-net in the sea, thus the
drag-net in the sea, can be compared with the preaching of the gospel about the
kingdom of God.
The message of the
gospel can be contextualized as the drag-net that draws people to the Kingdom
of God; hence we all are invited to preach the message of the kingdom which
keeps drawing people to profess Christian faith. Moreover, as it is well known biblical, the sea symbolizes sin, thus by the sea may be represented that
abyss of sin, error, ignorance, and wickedness in which men live, and out of
which they are drawn, by the truth and Spirit of God, who cordially close in
with the offers of salvation made to them in the preaching of the Gospel. In
our own situations and time there many areas we need to go in and rescue our
brothers and sister lost on those areas. For example there those who have been
swallowed by the modernity, those who got lost their faith and hope because of witchcraft
and ideological beliefs, those who got lost because of their gender, those who
found themselves in displaced refugees camps, alcoholic victims, cocaine
victims, prisoners and prostitutes; these are people we need to cast a net of
God’s word.
The reward and final
judgement from the gospel has a message to us all. The evangelist has brought
to us the metaphor of drag-net in relation to the Kingdom of God. Just as a
drag-net catches every kind of fish in the sea, likewise, the church as an
instrument of God gathers in all who come. The Church of God embraces
diversity. In our everyday life as Christians we are invited to embrace diversity
without being selective. The kingdom of God is there to embrace everybody
provided he/she is ready to believe and profess faith in the risen Jesus
Christ. However, there will come a time of separation between the good and the
wicked, this duty of separation between good and evil is only reserved to God
our creator.
From the readings today
we are told about the concepts of old and the new. We have to bear in our minds
that old has got something substantial to contribute to the New. I think that
when Jesus mentioned about the old and new he was referring to both Old and New
covenants. The old prepared the way for the advent of Christ as the redeemer of
all who would be saved through his sacrifice on the cross. The purpose of St.
Matthew’s gospel is to explain the fulfillment of old into new. Thus the new
testament is the fulfillment of old through Christ’s saving death and
resurrection.
Hakuna maoni:
Chapisha Maoni