Today’s Gospel gives us a picture of a fisherman in a wide sea casting his net at dawn across a wide and open sea. Soon, the net swells with a rich catch. But then comes the reality. As the net does not choose which fish to catch, the fisherman had to sit and sort their catch. They keep the good fish, and the bad –usually small, bony, and poisonous fish, are cast aside.
Heaven
Jesus used the same imagery to describe the Kingdom of heaven. The Church is like that big net, it is not limited to one nation, it is for all people. As Pope Leo XIII once said, it is “always open to receive everyone.” The Church founded by Christ embraces all, yet today’s Gospel reminds us: inclusion is not the end of the story. Those within the Church are to be conformed to Christ. We are Christian not because we follow our own preferences and comforts, but because we follow Jesus Christ. And when the Final Judgment comes, those who lived with love, truth, and faithfulness will be gathered into God’s Kingdom. Those who rejected grace or lived only for themselves — they will be cast aside.
It is a strong image, isn’t it? But it is not meant to scare — it is meant to wake us up. Thanks be to God, not one of us were born as bad fish destined to be thrown away. We can actually choose to be good so that we can be with Jesus forever in the Eternal Kingdom.
In Choosing
In choosing to be a ‘good fish,’ we have St. Ignatius of Loyola as an example. During his early years, St. Ignatius was far from being a good catch. He was ambitious, vain, and proud, chasing his own glory as a soldier and courtier. But during a battle, a cannon ball shattered his leg that he was forced into the silence of recovery room. In that difficult moment for such an ambitious young man, he read about Christ and the saints, and something changed in him. That was the beginning of his conversion.
Eventually, he went through deep spiritual struggles and self-doubt but emerged with a burning desire to serve God. This experience taught him how to discern God’s will with clarity and courage. The experience which he used as a basis of the Spiritual Exercises. A retreat program he developed to help others do the same; to discern what comes from God , and to make decisions to follow Christ more faithfully.
The Two Standards
This choice is reflected in one of its mediations, The Two Standards. It dramatically portrays the ‘great battle fought within our soul between Jesus Christ and Lucifer,’ a battle that takes place not only in history, but in every human heart. Lucifer lures souls through false promises of riches, vain glory, and pride, leading them into a life of vices and sin. Christ, on other hand, invites us to follow his way of spiritual (at times material) poverty, love of contempt and of humility. This leads to all virtues with which we imitate Christ more perfectly and is the source of our true happiness.
Seen in the light of today’s Gospel, this meditation helps us realize that the sorting of the fish is not something random, it is the result of the choices we make. The bad fish are those who followed Lucifer’s standard, while the good fish are those who chose to live with Christ. In this meditation, St. Ignatius invites us to have a firm and lasting will to choose Christ and respond to our call of holiness, whatever our vocations might be.
Invitation
Like St. Ignatius of Loyola, who once lived for ambition and personal glory but chose the path of holiness, we too are invited to real conversion. The net is already in the water, and we are already being gathered in, waiting for the Final Judgment. Let us actively seek holiness, courageously reject the lures of pride and self-interest, and choose to live under the standard of Christ. May we be always found to be counted among the faithful who lived with love, truth, and holiness.
Sources Consulted:
1. The Spiritual Exercises — St. Ignatius of Loyola
2. Comentario y explicación de los Ejercicios Espirituales de San Ignacio de Loyola — Fr. Ignacio Casanova
3. Inaugural Homily — Pope Leo XIV, Mass for the Beginning of the Pontificate, St. Peter’s Square, May 18, 2025
