The Scripture readings for today's blog can be found at Friday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB
In our gospel for today we hear Jesus call St. Matthew,
the tax collector, to be His follower. Tax Collectors during the time Our Lord
walked the earth were very much hated by the Jewish people since they were not
only collecting taxes for the oppressive Roman Empire, but they would also use
extortion in order collect these taxes from their fellow Jews. As a result,
understandably, the Jews hated the tax collectors. The Jews felt that these tax
collectors had abandoned their Jewish faith and were beyond redemption. They
were considered great sinners and didn’t deserve to be part of the Jewish
community.
The Pharisees were unable to look at these tax
collectors and see that they too were people made in the image of God and
deserved to receive salvation as well. Jesus was able to see beyond their sinfulness
and bring forgiveness and healing to Matthew and the other tax collectors and those
others that were considered sinners by the Pharisees.
Like Matthew, we are all called by Jesus to follow Him
and to turn from our sinfulness. All of us, due to our sinful human nature,
have fallen short of God’s love and need His forgiveness. Further, there are
those we may know that seem to be away from God. They may not be living in a
way we feel they should. But God judges the heart and can touch them where they
are at to encourage them to return to relationship with Him. We just need to be
merciful to them, pray for them, and invite them back into that loving
relationship with God through Jesus Christ. We are called to remind them that our
Lord is saying to them, “Follow me.” We are called by our Lord to show the same
mercy to them that He has for them. People turn away from God for any number of
reasons. But we are called to be understanding and merciful to their need to
return to God in love and forgiveness. Our Lord clearly says, “I desire mercy,
not sacrifice.”
The best way to return to the Lord and receive the
healing and forgiveness of our sins is through the Sacrament of Confession. The
Church encourages us to make regular use of confession to receive the healing
mercy of God. Further, we should try to encourage those others in our lives
that may be away from God to turn back to Him through confession. This way they,
too, can be in the loving embrace of God. Today, let us see Jesus pass by… hear
Jesus say, “Follow me”.. and feel Jesus heal us from our sin.
I remember that for many years I would feel disturbed when hearing Our LORD's words that there is more joy in heaven over one sinner that repents than the 99 who don't need penance. Here I was: avoiding sin & avoiding all forms of evil, doing my best to keep the Ten Commandments & to do good to others, never miss Mass on Sunday or a holyday of obligation unless I was sick or there was a blizzard, praying, etc., & there would be more joy in heaven over somebody who had been living a sinful life who finally decided to repent than over a "good person" who has been living a faithful Catholic life like me?? That didn't seem fair. It sounded as if God was preferring the "bad people" to "good people" like me! I also have related to the Elder Son in the Parable of the Prodigal Son: one son who ran away & did all the wrong things & wasted his inheritance & got in trouble comes home & gets a big party, while the faithful, obedient, hard working son gets taken for granted.
ReplyDeleteThen I came into the Catholic Charismatic Renewal & I finally realized that there is no human being who has no need of repentance. Although we may, through our efforts & the help of God's grace given to us, have never committed a mortal or grave sin & even avoided denial sins, there are still areas of sinfulness we may have, such as a tendency toward pride, competitiveness, self righteousness and/or a critical/judgmental spirit. So if we dig deeper & seek to know God & know ourselves better we can find areas where we need the LORD to heal us & help us become more like Him. As the Loving Father responded to the Elder Son who felt cheated when his Prodigal younger brother returned & was welcomed with the merciful love of a big party when a lecture & time on probation seemed more just & prudent, we who have been faithfully following the LORD have been continually blessed by the Presence of the LORD & have been the recipient of His grace without which we would not have been able to live Holy lives.
The LORD's heart is for ALL people & His desire is for ALL to be in right relationship with Him. If we truly love the LORD, His desires should be ours as well. No one is being cheated or deprived when a sinner is welcomed home. God's love is without measure & He has a unique personal relationship with each one of us & He loves us as we are & is delighted when we are doing good. It grieves Our LORD when anyone is estranged from Him & we should join in His joy & the joy of the angel &;saints in welcoming our estranged brothers & sisters home.
Typo probably due to auto correct that I missed: I meant VENIAL sins. NOT "DENIAL" sins.
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