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| “The Calling of St. Matthew” by Caravaggio, 1599-1600 |
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Hosea 6:3-6
The highly sensitive Prophet Hosea calls to the people of Israel to know and love God because he is surly with them. He speaks most directly to Ephraim and Judah who have fallen prey to empty ritual and meaningless sacrifice, forgetting the Law and its spirit.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 50:1, 8, 12-13, 14-15
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
Psalm 50 is called a covenant lawsuit requiring sacrifices made to God be signs of praise and genuine obedience. The final strophe echoes the covenant reciprocal promise “Offer to God praise as your sacrifice and fulfill your vows to the Most High; Then call upon me in time of distress; I will rescue you, and you shall glorify me.”
Reading II Romans 4:18-25
St. Paul recalls the faithfulness of Abraham and Sarah in spite of their ages God promised them descendents – a promise fulfilled in Isaac. This faithfulness earned him the label of righteous. Righteousness St. Paul says carries down to all who are faithful to God’s Son, Jesus because of his sacrificial act.
Gospel Matthew 9:9-13
The journey of Jesus continues with the Lord’s encounter with Matthew (Levi in St. Mark’s Gospel), the tax collector. The Pharisees are scandalized because this renowned teacher has chosen to associate with “sinners” who clearly violate some of the numerous laws about ritual purity. Jesus' response “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” makes it clear that interior faith is more highly prized than purely ritualistic rigor.
Homily:
Anyone who tries to take their faith seriously has one question always on their mind; “What does God want me to do?” That is a complex question because first and foremost God wants us to use His Son as an example. We have to understand not only how Jesus would act (even in situations that could not even have been imagined in Jesus time) but also what motivated those actions.
As we think about this question Eddy Haskel comes to mind. For the younger folks here that may need a bit of background. In the ancient days, before color television, there was a television program called “Leave it to Beaver”. The program was about the exploits of Theodore Cleaver, an elementary school aged boy(known as “The Beaver” for reasons that escape me now) Included in the regular programming were Beaver’s mother and father, wise and very correct parents (in those days secular society had not yet been able to over throw “Respect your parents” as a moral imperative.). Beaver had an older (high school aged) brother “Wally” and he had friends, one of whom was Eddy Haskel.
Eddy was a handsome and polite young man. Always oh so nice and oh so correct in every way when adults were around; but once they were gone his true colors came out and he was always trying to get Beaver or Wally to do the wrong things. In other words he knew the right things to do and did them so that people would believe he was a genuinely good person, but in his heart he was exactly the opposite.
Sacred Scripture speaks to us about something very similar (although not nearly as obvious). The Prophet Hosea in his role as one who chides and encourages, kind of blasts the tribes of Ephraim and Judah for the laxness of their faithful worship, he says is “like a morning cloud, like the dew that early passes away”. God wants the people to think about him always like a person in love thinks of the one they love all the time. Genuine love of God is like that, not the pious lip service of the hypocrites.
The psalm we sang and St. Paul’s letter to the Romans both talked about the heart of our faithfulness. Paul especially reminds us of Abraham and his wife Sara to whom God promised generations of descendents. How unlikely was the fulfillment of that promise? Abraham was very old at the time and his wife was also old and considered sterile, incapable of having children. People whose faith is for others to see would have given up on such a promise. But Abraham and Sara had faith that God would do as promised and their confidence was justified. Once again God responded to faith with faithfulness.
Finally we come to Jesus in St. Matthew’s Gospel. It is an elegant picture painted in those verses. Jesus, a rising star among the teachers of the faith in Galilee, has just cured a paralytic and probably has some Pharisees in his entourage. Jesus sees Matthew, a tax collector, and asks him to join him as a disciple. The Lord’s exact words; “Follow me.” No one could have resisted that charismatic call but it’s clear – Jesus choice chaffed the Pharisees. This was scandalous. Here was a prominent teacher sitting down with people that were virtually shunned in polite society. They called him on his choice.
They must have been surprised when he turned on them rather sharply telling them first - “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.” Then, probably seeing a little confusion in their faces he tells them (these wise and learned men) “Go and learn the meaning of the words,
‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ “
We can see it immediately – Jesus is telling them they know and follow the letter of the law but do not understand the underlying reason for the law. Or it could be worse, he could be calling them “Eddy Haskels” people who say and do the right thing when others are looking but in their hearts they are far from God.
The lesson we talk away from scripture today is pretty clear. In order for us to answer the question we ask; “What does God want me to do?’ we must also remember that we are not just called to do the right thing, but to do it for the right reasons. If for example we give money to the poor, not just because we are called to feed the poor but because it makes us feel good, like we are somehow better than they are; we have done the “sacrifice but not mercy” thing. Even worse would be if we gave money to the poor just so we could write it off on our taxes or so that others could see how generous we were. It is not just what God wants us to do; it’s in his spirit that we must do it.
It is a very good lesson we are given today. If you ever happen to catch a re-run of “Leave it to Beaver” notice how easy it is to see past Eddy Haskel’s apparent goodness and then think how much easier it is for the Lord to see our motives. The choice now lies with us – we can know what God wants of us if we can love the way God loves us. It is the only way we can see action and motivation that earns us the great prize.
Pax
Commentary:
Reading 1 Hosea 6:3-6
The highly sensitive Prophet Hosea calls to the people of Israel to know and love God because he is surly with them. He speaks most directly to Ephraim and Judah who have fallen prey to empty ritual and meaningless sacrifice, forgetting the Law and its spirit.
Responsorial Psalm Psalm 50:1, 8, 12-13, 14-15
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
Psalm 50 is called a covenant lawsuit requiring sacrifices made to God be signs of praise and genuine obedience. The final strophe echoes the covenant reciprocal promise “Offer to God praise as your sacrifice and fulfill your vows to the Most High; Then call upon me in time of distress; I will rescue you, and you shall glorify me.”
Reading II Romans 4:18-25
St. Paul recalls the faithfulness of Abraham and Sarah in spite of their ages God promised them descendents – a promise fulfilled in Isaac. This faithfulness earned him the label of righteous. Righteousness St. Paul says carries down to all who are faithful to God’s Son, Jesus because of his sacrificial act.
Gospel Matthew 9:9-13
The journey of Jesus continues with the Lord’s encounter with Matthew (Levi in St. Mark’s Gospel), the tax collector. The Pharisees are scandalized because this renowned teacher has chosen to associate with “sinners” who clearly violate some of the numerous laws about ritual purity. Jesus' response “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” makes it clear that interior faith is more highly prized than purely ritualistic rigor.
Homily:
Anyone who tries to take their faith seriously has one question always on their mind; “What does God want me to do?” That is a complex question because first and foremost God wants us to use His Son as an example. We have to understand not only how Jesus would act (even in situations that could not even have been imagined in Jesus time) but also what motivated those actions.
As we think about this question Eddy Haskel comes to mind. For the younger folks here that may need a bit of background. In the ancient days, before color television, there was a television program called “Leave it to Beaver”. The program was about the exploits of Theodore Cleaver, an elementary school aged boy(known as “The Beaver” for reasons that escape me now) Included in the regular programming were Beaver’s mother and father, wise and very correct parents (in those days secular society had not yet been able to over throw “Respect your parents” as a moral imperative.). Beaver had an older (high school aged) brother “Wally” and he had friends, one of whom was Eddy Haskel.
Eddy was a handsome and polite young man. Always oh so nice and oh so correct in every way when adults were around; but once they were gone his true colors came out and he was always trying to get Beaver or Wally to do the wrong things. In other words he knew the right things to do and did them so that people would believe he was a genuinely good person, but in his heart he was exactly the opposite.
Sacred Scripture speaks to us about something very similar (although not nearly as obvious). The Prophet Hosea in his role as one who chides and encourages, kind of blasts the tribes of Ephraim and Judah for the laxness of their faithful worship, he says is “like a morning cloud, like the dew that early passes away”. God wants the people to think about him always like a person in love thinks of the one they love all the time. Genuine love of God is like that, not the pious lip service of the hypocrites.
The psalm we sang and St. Paul’s letter to the Romans both talked about the heart of our faithfulness. Paul especially reminds us of Abraham and his wife Sara to whom God promised generations of descendents. How unlikely was the fulfillment of that promise? Abraham was very old at the time and his wife was also old and considered sterile, incapable of having children. People whose faith is for others to see would have given up on such a promise. But Abraham and Sara had faith that God would do as promised and their confidence was justified. Once again God responded to faith with faithfulness.
Finally we come to Jesus in St. Matthew’s Gospel. It is an elegant picture painted in those verses. Jesus, a rising star among the teachers of the faith in Galilee, has just cured a paralytic and probably has some Pharisees in his entourage. Jesus sees Matthew, a tax collector, and asks him to join him as a disciple. The Lord’s exact words; “Follow me.” No one could have resisted that charismatic call but it’s clear – Jesus choice chaffed the Pharisees. This was scandalous. Here was a prominent teacher sitting down with people that were virtually shunned in polite society. They called him on his choice.
They must have been surprised when he turned on them rather sharply telling them first - “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.” Then, probably seeing a little confusion in their faces he tells them (these wise and learned men) “Go and learn the meaning of the words,
‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ “
We can see it immediately – Jesus is telling them they know and follow the letter of the law but do not understand the underlying reason for the law. Or it could be worse, he could be calling them “Eddy Haskels” people who say and do the right thing when others are looking but in their hearts they are far from God.
The lesson we talk away from scripture today is pretty clear. In order for us to answer the question we ask; “What does God want me to do?’ we must also remember that we are not just called to do the right thing, but to do it for the right reasons. If for example we give money to the poor, not just because we are called to feed the poor but because it makes us feel good, like we are somehow better than they are; we have done the “sacrifice but not mercy” thing. Even worse would be if we gave money to the poor just so we could write it off on our taxes or so that others could see how generous we were. It is not just what God wants us to do; it’s in his spirit that we must do it.
It is a very good lesson we are given today. If you ever happen to catch a re-run of “Leave it to Beaver” notice how easy it is to see past Eddy Haskel’s apparent goodness and then think how much easier it is for the Lord to see our motives. The choice now lies with us – we can know what God wants of us if we can love the way God loves us. It is the only way we can see action and motivation that earns us the great prize.
Pax
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used today is “The Calling of St. Matthew” by Caravaggio, 1599-1600
[2] The picture used today is “The Calling of St. Matthew” by Caravaggio, 1599-1600
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