Friday, the 13th week of ordinary time, July 5, 2024
Am 8:4-6, 9-12; Ps 119:2, 10, 20, 30, 40, 131; Mt 9:9-13
A long time ago, probably 30-plus years ago, we were doing a Bible study on the Gospel of Matthew. What struck me was the call of Matthew, how Jesus just walked up to him and said, “Follow Me.” Matthew dropped everything and followed Jesus.
If it were so easy to “follow me,” as the Lord says, our world would be so much better. I like the apostle Matthew because he came from a very tough background. He was despised by those around him, and many thought he was a thief and sinner. Well, he was a tax collector, which was probably the most hated profession of the times. So, unless, of course, you were the recipient of his good fortunes, you would think he was the lowest of the low. Most people hated tax collectors because they were always asking for more. So why does Jesus have a meal with them? We have to go back and look at his response to the Pharisees who were watching him and snickering behind his back.
Jesus says very clearly, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.” It is all about the person’s soul. If someone is not following Jesus’s way, then he or she perhaps is in deep trouble. Their soul is in jeopardy. Who else but Jesus, the Son of God, to sit with them and help them recover? Jesus of course, wants everyone to be with Him in heaven. However, if they are not well, meaning they are in a state of sin, they are in peril of making it to heaven. Thankfully, Jesus also gave us the Sacrament of Reconciliation to help us. Just as Jesus forgave Matthew’s sins, and those around the table, so does every priest who acts in the persona of Jesus when we go confess our sins and are forgiven (reconciled).
Our early Church doctors and writers talk about the need to be free from sin and to be pure when receiving the Eucharist. In fact, they were adamant that you must be reconciled, because if you receive the Thanksgiving (the Eucharist) in a state of sin, your own sacrifice would be profaned. Much worse than the sin itself! Nevertheless, Jesus came for us, the sick, to be a soul healer, so there is hope we can get to heaven. It is through all the sacraments we receive, especially Reconciliation, where we can begin to learn the meaning of the words Jesus spoke: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”
Today is also the feast day of St. Anthony Zaccaria and St. Elizabeth of Portugal. St. Anthony founded the order of Barbanites in Milan and promoted the use of altar sacraments and the ringing of the church bells on Fridays. He died in 1538. St. Elizabeth was married at the age of twelve to a corrupt and immoral King. However, she was able to overcome her difficulties and earned the respect of neighboring monarchs with the ability to negotiate ends to conflicts. After her husband died, she entered the Poor Clares as a Franciscan tertiary. She died in 1336.
Let us be like St. Anthony and St. Elizabeth where we give our whole self to Jesus. And let us also follow Him like Mathew did. For if we do, our world will be so much better.
Saint James Catholic Church 