Gospel (Mt 13,47-53) - At that time, Jesus said to the crowd: «The kingdom of heaven is also similar to a net thrown into the sea, which gathers all kinds of fish. When it is full, the fishermen pull it to the shore and then, sitting down, collect the good fish in the baskets and throw the bad ones away. So it will be at the end of the world. The angels will come and separate the evil from the good and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Have you understood all these things? They replied: "Yes." And he said to them: "For this reason every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old." Having finished these parables, Jesus left from there.

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

Jesus uses the image of the fishing net in his parable. Normally it is a very large net that is lowered in a semicircle into the water and pulled to the beach. This net, says Jesus, collects a large quantity of fish. Jesus wants to underline that the kingdom of God is broad, it concerns all men, without any distinction. «When it is full – says Jesus – the fishermen pull it to shore». The net must be full before hauling it ashore. There is also in this notation the underlining of the generosity and greatness of the love of Jesus. This breadth of heart of the Lord is an invitation addressed to us too, not to be stingy in casting the net, in trying in every way to communicate the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Jesus continues by saying that once the net is full of fish then it is pulled to shore. And here the choice, the judgment takes place: the good fish are separated from the bad. This image recalls that of the parable of the weeds, however, underlining the final moment of judgement, when there will be separation of one from the other. It will also happen like this among the sheep and the goats, as Matthew tells us in the Last Judgment when we will be judged on love. The righteous are those who have loved. The real distinction between the good and the bad will be precisely on attention to others. We often think we are the only judges of our lives. The Lord has a judgment of love, which must help us choose not to lose such a great love.