Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Loyola
Matthew 13: 47-53
Sorting What Is Beautiful

Jesus continues with the Kingdom parables – and today he speaks of the net cast into the sea that gathers fish of every kind. When the net is full, the catch is sorted—good is kept, and the rest is discarded. It’s a familiar scene for Jesus, who spent time by the shores of Lake Tiberias. But the message goes far deeper than fish.

This parable isn’t only about separating good and bad people. It’s about each of us. Within every person—even those drawn into Christ’s net—there is beauty, and there is brokenness. There are moments of Spirit-led love and times of selfish compromise.

As Ignatius of Loyola taught in his Spiritual Exercises, we are called to discern, to notice what leads us toward God and what leads us away. The process of Christian maturity is the purification of our hearts—allowing the Spirit to burn away what is lifeless so that the beauty of Christ may remain.

Matthew the Evangelist, himself a converted tax collector, ends this passage with an image of the wise scribe who brings forth treasures new and old. This, too, speaks to our journey of faith. Ignatius, a soldier turned mystic, shows how God transforms even ambition and passion into zeal for the Gospel. He didn’t discard the past but allowed God to refine it.

The fiery furnace in the parable is not a threat but a promise: that our corruption will not have the last word. In the end, only what is beautiful in us—what has been shaped by grace—will remain. The call today is to let God do this work in us, to cooperate with his Spirit, and to become “angels” to one another—messengers who call forth the good and guide others out of the waters into life.

© Claretian Publications, Hong Kong, China
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica 2025