「Spiritual Talk」Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Fr. Anthony Ho

This weekend, the Church celebrates the Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time and the Gospel reading from Matthew chapter 13 contains the Parable of the Hidden Treasure and the Parable of the Pearl. A man accidentally finds a treasure sells all he has to obtain it. The Church must likewise give up everything in order to catch all humanity under her nets, regardless of whether the men she catches are good or evil. Many people are called by God to enter His Church but only the good will be chosen to enter Heaven. The Apostles understood Jesus’ parable and that they were to link the Law of the Old Testament with His teaching in the New Testament. They were to be God’s fishermen and not judges, for judgment belongs to God alone. Each soul has the potential to be saved by God so the Apostles were not to waste time judging them, but laboured at proclaiming the Gospel to all peoples. St. Teresa of Calcutta once said, “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” In our everyday lives, we might have many conflicts with people but at the end of the day, we must remember that God wishes for them all to be saved and will only separate the good from the evil on the last day.