GOSPEL: MT 9:9-13
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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?” Jesus 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.”
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The heart of redemption is mercy. Though God is omnipotent, it is mercy that renders God’s entry into Israel’s history of salvation. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him… might have eternal life” (Jn 3:16).
Jesus Christ is the face of the Father’s mercy. By his words, actions, and entire person, Jesus reveals the mercy of God. Mercy is the context of Jesus’ ministry. To emphasize his closeness to sinners, Jesus calls Matthew who is a public sinner (a publican) to be an apostle. His parables of mercy – the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son (cf Lk 15:1-32) – reveal God’s merciful love. Other parables that expand the concept of mercy are: The two debtors and their creditor (cf Lk 7:4143), the Good Samaritan (cf Lk 10:25-37), the rich man and the beggar Lazarus (cf Lk 16:19-31), the unjust judge and the persistent widow (cf Lk 18:1-8), and the Pharisee and the publican in the temple of (cf Lk 18:9-14).
All these show that “The mercy of God is not an abstract idea, but a concrete reality with which he reveals his love as that of a father or a mother, moved to the very depths out of love for their child… this is a “visceral” love (that) gushes forth from the depths naturally, full of tenderness and compassion, indulgence and mercy,” writes Pope Francis in Misericordiae Vultus (n 6). The Pope declares, “Mercy is the very foundation of the Church’s life” (MV, 10). Every Christian is called to reflect the face of God who is merciful through corporal and spiritual works of mercy.
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SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord 2020,” ST. PAULS Philippines, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
