Friday, July 04, 2014
13th Week
in Ordinary Time
St. Elizabeth of Portugal
1st Reading:
Am 8:4-6, 9-12
Gospel: Matthew 9:9-13
As Jesus moved on from there, he saw a man named Matthew at his seat in the custom-house, and he said to him, “Follow me.”
And Matthew got up and followed him. Now it happened, while Jesus was at table in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and other sinners joined Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this they said to his disciples, “Why is it that your master eats with those sinners and tax collectors?”
When Jesus heard this he said, “Healthy people do not need a doctor, but sick people do. Go and find out what this means: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Little Harry hit little James with a stick while playing after dinner. Accusations were still being exchanged as mother prepared them for bed. The mother instructed, “Now, James, before you go to bed, you must forgive your brother.” James was thoughtful for a few moments, and then he replied, “Well, OK, I’ll forgive him tonight, but if I don’t die before I wake up, he’d better look out in the morning”. (Michael Hodgin).
Mercy is hard to give even for minor infractions. That is why we can only marvel at how God is able to forgive the worst sinners in the world. Tax collectors, for example, were the worst sinners of society in Jesus’ time. God did not only forgive them but even showed special predilection for them. They were hated as traitors for collecting taxes for the Romans. For this they were even considered the worst kind of sinners. To dramatize this characterization anyone who associated with tax collectors, let alone dine with them, were considered ritually impure and were barred from Temple worship.
Against this background Jesus dined with Matthew, a tax collector. Jesus justified this act with this verse from the Prophets: “It is mercy I want, not sacrifice” (Hosea 6:6). In quoting Hosea Jesus wanted to establish that if mercy is superior to Temple sacrifice, then mercy should also be over and above the law on ritual impurity.
Today’s Gospel reading makes us feel guilty. God has all the reasons not to show us mercy, for our offences are manifold and our infractions unlimited. Yet the Lord is always kind and merciful, slow to anger and rich in compassion. We, on the contrary always find reasons to withhold mercy from our fellowmen. George Eliot lamented in Adam Bede: “We hand folks over to God’s mercy, and show none ourselves”. —Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: [email protected]. Website: www.frdan.org.
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