Matthew 9:9-13

As Jesus passed by,

he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post.

He said to him, “Follow me.”

And he got up and followed him.

While he was at table in his house,

many tax collectors and sinners came

and sat with Jesus and his disciples.

The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples,

“Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

He heard this and said,

“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.

Go and learn the meaning of the words,

I desire mercy, not sacrifice.

I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I offer you the sacrifice of my life, united to the sufferings of your Son. I will be merciful as you are merciful. I will strive for holiness and perfection as you are holy and perfect.

Encountering the Word of God

1. The Visions of Amos: Amos prophesied during the height of Israel’s prosperity. The officials of the kingdom considered the prophet nothing more than a thorn in their side (Amos 7:10-17). Amaziah, the high priest at the sanctuary of Bethel, expelled Amos from the sanctuary and demanded that he return to his native Judah. Amos’s prophecies and visions only intensify: “The sequence of Amos’ visions indicates that he became increasingly conscious of impending doom hanging over Israel because of the injustice in the land. In his early visions of locusts and drought, the prophet is able to avert disaster by means of intercessory prayer (7:1-6). However in the last three visions of the plumb-line, the ripe fruit, and the sanctuary (7:7-9; 8:1-3; 9:1-4), the prophet shows that calamity has become irrevocable. The Lord seems to be indicating that by rejecting the prophet’s word, Israel had crossed the line of no return” (Duggan, The Consuming Fire, 249). Amos foresees the “Day of the Lord” not as a time of victory over Israel’s enemies, but rather as a time of divine judgment, terror for the unrighteous, wailing, and lamentation. Israel and Samaria will be invaded by Assyria in 722 B.C. and the people will be sent into exile. This was nothing more than the fulfillment of God’s word, the divine visitation on the injustice rampant among the people. The people were unfaithful to their mission to bring the nations to worship the one, true God, and so God sent them out as exiles into the nations, until the day when his Son, Jesus Christ, would come to restore the tribes of Israel and gather all people to himself. Am I faithful to the mission I have received at Baptism and Confirmation to be a witness to God in the world?

2. The Call of Matthew: In comparison to Israel’s day of visitation, Matthew’s encounter with the Lord has a much different outcome. Matthew does not reject the voice of the Lord and instead leaves everything to follow Christ. Just as the first apostles left their nets, Matthew leaves his counting post. From the outside, it looks like Matthew is nothing more than a sinner, who contributes to the Roman oppression of the people. From the outside, someone could easily accuse Matthew of the sins listed by Amos: waiting for the Sabbath to end so as to get on with making money, fixing his scales to cheat the people, and so on. But this is not the case, Matthew’s heart was open to the movement of God’s grace. He didn’t let it pass by and responded generously. Jesus defends Matthew from the questions of the Pharisees, who thought that they were righteous because they fulfilled the external rites of the law. Jesus is inviting his disciples to a higher righteousness. He is inviting them to leave their sinful ways behind and share in the righteousness of the New Covenant, a righteousness that he, as our Savior and Redeemer, has won for us. Am I living in the righteousness of the New Covenant?

3. Our Attitude Towards Others: We are like Matthew. We are sinners in need of God’s mercy. When God visits us, we should not follow the example of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, who rejected the word of the Lord. Rather, we need to welcome the Word of God each day in prayer, in Sacred Scripture, in the Eucharist, and in serving our brothers. Our attitude toward sinners cannot be like that of the Pharisees who separated themselves from others and judged them severely, completely oblivious to the log in their own eye. Rather, we need to be like Matthew, who, after encountering Jesus and leaving everything to follow him, gathers his family and friends and acquaintances at table so that they too may encounter the Word of salvation.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I recognize myself as a sinner in need of your merciful love. Any victory I have over sin is due primarily to your grace and secondarily to my effort to collaborate with your grace. Do not let my heart grow prideful when I am victorious over sin. Do not let my heart be discouraged when I fail.

Living the Word of God: When I am with my friends, coworkers, and family, do I seek to share with them the love and mercy of God?