Jesus instructs his disciples on the Kingdom of heaven in this, for me, puzzling and even frightening Gospel. Jesus likens the Kingdom to a "net thrown into the sea which collects fish of every kind.” The bad fish are “thrown away.” So, he continues, “at the end of the age 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.”   He continues: “every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven is like the head of the household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.” No threats of eternal punishment with this last analogy. Just inclusiveness. Perhaps Jesus was referring to the law of the Torah as the old, and his fulfillment of the law as the new?

I found consolation in the words of Saint Alphonsus Liguori whose memorial is today. In the words of Robert Ellsberg, who writes the “Blessed Among Us” feature in the Give Us This Day series, St. Alphonsus Liguori maintained that " the moral life was not a matter of tortured or legalistic compliance with the law. It was essentially the life of love.” I just cannot get with the wailing and grinding of teeth description of the afterlife for the unrighteous. I couldn’t imagine a God of infinite mercy allowing even the wicked to choose such punishment. As Saint Alphonsus maintained and Ellsberg writes “ all are called to salvation and ..the means are available to every person.” All are called and the inclusiveness of “both the new and the old” is consolation.

Particularly consoling is the first reading from Jeremiah 18:1-6. A potter (God) makes objects out of clay, and if one turns out badly in his hand, he tries again!
I wonder how many times God has tried again and again to mold me into something pleasing to him? Like the householder with his storeroom who brings out both the old and the new, I wonder what I have in my storeroom of memories and past deeds. What is old? What do I hang onto and have trouble releasing, bringing out? What can I bring out that is new? What do I look forward to on my path toward growth in love for others and union with God? Do I see the setbacks and troubles of my life as God’s opportunities to lead me to a life of love?

The Eastern Church has many depictions of Christ, on his resurrection, descending to the place of wailing and grinding of teeth and freeing suffering souls, breaking the chains of hurt that held them captive to the great pains they suffered. I believe in hell and I believe Christ can free us. We are clay in the Father’s hands. God will keep trying. Will we?