Gospel
Matthew 9:9-13
It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick
As Jesus was walking on, he saw a man named Matthew sitting by the customs house, and 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.’
Reflection
Jesus addresses physical disease for a short time while He is on earth, but He heals our sin-induced injuries now. Both physical sickness and sin-sickness draw us to Him. Jesus did not come to "call" righteous people, but rather sinful people, just as healthy people do not typically seek out a doctor. His words offer a double meaning in a sense. On one level, He explains His mission as a friend of sinners who comes to save lost people. However, Jesus also subtly rebukes the religious leaders who see themselves as righteous and without need of Jesus and the salvation He provides.
Let us pray
O God, who with untold mercy
were pleased to choose as an Apostle
Saint Matthew, the tax collector,
grant that, sustained by his example and intercession,
we may merit to hold firm in following you.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
(one) God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
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