St. Matthew

We have heard the gospel of the vocation of Matthew. Matthew was a “toll booth,” t. j. tax collector for the treasury of the Roman Empire. Therefore, he was considered a public sinner. However, Jesus calls him to follow him and become his disciple. Matthew accepts this and immediately invites Jesus and his disciples to dine in his house. However, dining with the public and sinners will provoke discussion among the Pharisees and the disciples of Jesus. “You must not go to these people’s house!” they said. Instead of avoiding them, Jesus visited them and ate with them; it means that they too can become his disciples. And, indeed, being Christians does not mean being without sin. Like the saber Matthew, each of us, despite our sins, entrusts ourselves to the grace of the Lord. We are all sinners; we all have sinned. By calling Matthew, Jesus shows sinners not to look at their past, their social status, their external conventions, but to open them to a new future.

I once heard a lovely saying: “There is no saint without the past, no sinner without the future.” This is what Jesus does. There is no saint without a past, nor a sinner without a future. All they have to do is respond to his invitation with a humble and sincere heart. The Church is not a community of perfect people, but a community of disciples on the path who follow the Lord because they recognize that they are sinners and need his forgiveness. Therefore, the life of a Christian is a school of humility that opens us up to grace. However, this way of behaving is not inherent in one who considers himself to be “righteous” and believes that he is better than others. Pride and arrogance do not allow us to recognize that we need salvation; they even prevent you from seeing God’s merciful face and acting mercifully. They are a wall: Pride and arrogance are a wall that hinders a relationship with God. And yet, Jesus’ mission is to seek each of us to heal our wounds and call us to follow him with love. He clarifies: “Physicians do not need health, but the sick” (Mt 9:12).

Jesus presents himself as a good doctor! He proclaims God’s kingdom, and the signs of his coming are evident: he heals from diseases, frees from fear, from death, and from evil. For Jesus, no sinner is excluded – no sinner should be excluded! Because God’s healing power does not know diseases that cannot be healed, this must give us the confidence to open our hearts to the Lord to come and heal us. When Jesus calls sinners to one table, He heals them because He restores them in a vocation that they considered lost and that the Pharisees forgot – in the vocation to God’s feast. For the prophecy of Isaiah saith, The Lord of hosts hath prepared an abundant feast for all the nations in this mount, a feast with wine, an abundance selected, and the finest wine. And they shall say in that day, Behold; this is our God; in him, we trusted to save us. He is the Lord, in whom we have hoped, and let us joy and rejoice in his salvation!” (25,6.9).

If the Pharisees see only sinners in the guests and refuse to sit with them at the same table, Jesus reminds them that they are also God’s companions. Sitting at the same table with Jesus means being transformed and saved by him. In the Christian community, the feast of Jesus is twofold: there is the feast of the Word, and there is the feast of the Eucharist (cf. Dei Verbum, 21). These are the medicines with which the Divine Physician heals and nourishes us.

The first – the Word – appears to us and invites us to friendly dialogue. Jesus was not afraid to talk to sinners, toll booths, prostitutes. No, he was not scared: he loved every one! His Word penetrates us and, like a scalpel, operates our insides to free us from the evil in our lives. Often this Word is painful for us because it cuts into hypocrisy, exposes false excuses, exposes hidden truths, but simultaneously, it enlightens and purifies, gives strength and hope; it is a precious medicine on our path of faith.

In turn, the Eucharist feeds us through the very life of Jesus and, as a powerful healing agent, mysteriously constantly renews the grace of our baptism. By approaching the Eucharist, we feed on the Body and Blood of Jesus; in other words, it is Jesus himself who comes to us and unites us with His Body! Jesus concludes the dialogue with the Pharisees by recalling the terms of the prophet Hosea (6: 6): “Go and learn what it means:” I will have mercy, not sacrifice “(Mt 9:13). With these words, the prophet addresses Israel’s people and rebukes them for the prayers he raises to heaven are just empty words that do not correspond to their lives. Despite God’s covenant and mercy, the people often lived only with outward religions, without deeply experiencing what the Lord shows. That is why the prophet insists, “I want mercy,” p. j—devotion to the heart.