GOSPEL POWER | JULY 2, 2021 | FRIDAY | 13th Week in Ordinary Time

 Gospel: Mt 9: 9 – 13

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

Reflection

The real tragedy is not so much being a sinner as being  blind to the fact that one is a sinner. The truly pitiable  characters in today’s Gospel are not the tax collectors and  sinners, but the Pharisees who criticize Jesus for having tablefellowship with these people. Admission of sinfulness is the necessary  opening that makes the work of salvation possible. “God who created  us without us will not save us without us,” says St. Augustine. Salvation  is a gift that will not be imposed on anyone. A person has to recognize  one’s need of it, just as a sick person feels the urgency of seeing a  doctor. Free and conscious human cooperation is necessary in God’s  work of salvation.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, have mercy on us and deliver us from the tragic illusion of  being sinless. Amen