St Matthew, Apostle, Evangelist: Wednesday 21st September, 2022 September 21, 2022
Reflection on the WORD
Mercy, not Sacrifice: In today’s Gospel, Jesus called Matthew the tax collector to be His apostle, while the Pharisees, ‘condemned’ him as a ‘public sinner’. Jesus proclaimed, “Mercy pleases Me; not sacrifice.” Ponder on: When we condemn sinners, are we not being self-righteous, like the Pharisees?
Matthew 9:9-13
As Jesus was walking on he saw a man named Matthew sitting by the customs house, he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.
While he was at dinner in the house it happened that a number of tax collectors and sinners came to sit at the table with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?’
When he heard this he replied, ‘It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. Go and learn the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. And indeed I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.’
Today's Pointers on God's Word
As you read the passage what words, phases or meanings caught your attention?
- •Jesus told the Pharisees that He came to call sinners, not the upright as they are already “God fearing” people. He wants mercy not sacrifice.
- •Although a sacrifice had always been a fitting offering to God as He is almighty and all Loving, mercy is preferred because it is a virtue that comes from relating to others with compassion and love.
- •In all our dealings with others, Jesus expects that we show mercy and compassion to them as He has constantly been showing us these values. Not to show such values is to take Jesus for granted.