The July 26 gospel reflection in the weekly church bulletin from Blessed Savior Catholic Parish in Milwaukee, in which Jesus refers to "a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind," refers to final judgment, wrote the Rev. Romanus N. Nwaru.

"References to final judgment are often unsettling and some tiptoe around them," Nwaru wrote in his "Sunday Reflections" column. "Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a fisherman's net that collects fish of every kind. When the net is full, it is hauled aboard and sorted out."

The message is clear, Nwaru wrote.

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"You do not have to be in the fishing industry to understand the imagery of sorting good fish from bad," he said. "The fish that were discarded convey a sense of worthlessness. They are not of value to the fisherman."

Nwaru, who in May celebrated the 25th year of his ordination, based his reflection on that day's Gospel Reading from Matthew, Chapter 13. In the reading, Jesus is speaking with his disciples in parables. 

Jesus, among other things, makes reference to the Kingdom of Heaven being "like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."

In the parable in the same gospel chapter about the fisherman's net, after the good fish are sorted from the bad, Jesus tells his disciples that the bad fish will be thrown away.

"Thus it will be at the end of the age," Jesus said in the chapter. "The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth."

Nwaru concluded his reflection by referring to how tragic that could be.

"What a tragedy it would be to invest all of one's time and efforts on worthless ventures," he wrote. "Our worth at the end-time will be measured by the things [in which] we invested our time, energy and resources. We pray that when that time comes, God will find us worthy catches and invaluable gems."