Sunday Gospel Comment
Alberic Jacovone OSB
YEAR A TENTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR - 5.6.05 Hos 6,3-6; Rom 4,18-25; Mt 9,9-13 Enjoy God’s merciful heart Meet
Matthew in his Gospel.
This Sunday (after Lent & Easter time) we resume Year of Matthew with the
continuos reading of his Gospel. We begin with a story of Matthew & how
Jesus called him to be an apostle. In the language of Jesus, ‘Matthew’ is
spelled ‘Mat-tit-Ya-hu’. And in Greek the word is ‘Mat-thaios’, it
sounds like ‘Mathetes’ & it means ‘disciple/one who learns’. In
Hebrew however the word is linked with: ‘Natan’ (=he gave) & Yahweh
(=God); and it means ‘Gift of God’, which applies also to words:
‘Matthias’, who replaced Judas (Ac 1,23+) & Mattathias in Luke’s
Genealogy of Jesus (Lc 3,25+). Today’s story is packed with surprise &
irony. Here, a man calls himself ‘Gift of God’ & is despised by all,
because he works for the hated enemy, the Roman Empire. Supported by their army,
he extorts exorbitant taxes from his own people, makes himself filthy rich by
defrauding everyone. Now, Jesus calls this despicable traitor to follow him,
then goes to eat at his despicable home, to eat with his just as despicable
fellow robbers. (How could any good person avoid being offended at such a
behaviour of Jesus?) Still, Jesus calls this hated robber, to become an apostle
& he responds by leaving everything behind & following him. Jesus then
claims that God is fulfilling a prophecy of Hosea 6,6: ‘What I want is
compassion not sacrifice’. So he says that those
so called ‘good people’ fail to appreciate that God is infinitely
rich in mercy & wants everyone to be saved, even the hated tax-robbers &
the harlots who sell their bodies to enemy troops. And the irony goes even
deeper: now that Jesus has chosen Matthew to the honour of being an apostle, his
name truly tells that he is ‘a Gift of God’: he had been despicable in
extorting money from his own oppressed people, but now he proclaims Jesus’
Gospel, puts it in writing & rightly represents one of the 12 tribes of
Israel in God’s Kingdom, preached by Jesus. How
do you live God’s unconditional mercy? Today’s Gospel is even to us, packed with much irony & surprise.
Strange as it may sound, religious practice may corrupt the very heart of the
religion it stands for. At times we are strict about all sorts of rituals,
practices & devotions; but then we lose sight of the very purpose why we
keep those observances. At Jesus’ time, people complained, when they saw
Jesus, disregarding their religious ‘purity laws’, & thus, they failed
to discover that God is unbelievably rich in mercy for all. We achieve nothing
by condemning one another over the kind of rituals, practices & devotions
that we observe. By doing this, we loose sight of the very purpose why we need
such devotions & practices: in the end, they mean to invite us to abandon
ourselves into the arms of God’s unconditional mercy. So, as we deal with our
‘schools of spirituality’, let’s respect the inner creativity that is
expressed by each group. We know for example that last Friday, we held the Feast
of Sacred Heart, which “honours Christ’s heart, broken by our cruelty &
yet is symbol of love’s triumph & pledge of how we are to love”. Rather
than wasting energy in situating ourselves for or against the title “Sacred
Heart” or any Sacred Heart statues, litanies, prayers or devotions, - which
may be seen as a cultural expression of a particular group in a particular time,
- let’s celebrate the love of Christ for us all, a love beyond all
understanding Yes, while we always remain sinners, God loves us all, even the
worse criminals. And let’s celebrate God’s amazing disposition, not just
once a year, but on every possible occasion with great Eucharists, with solemn
adorations before Blessed Sacrament, with songs of praise & exhortations. ______________________________________ |
