Suitably enough, we have the Gospel text telling of the calling of St. Matthew to be read and heard on this, his Feast day and this particular text sums up one of the most important things Jesus teaches - that his followers are not the ritually pure or the always correctly living. He came to call sinners and being righteous and pure can be a big obstacle in our way to recognizing our real condition - before God and one another. Tax collectors are the agents of the Imperial invader. The morally lax are the least observant of the Law. But these are the ones Jesus wants to be with and draw to God.

About the Speaker: Father Michael Kelly is a Jesuit priest and English language publisher of the respected Jesuit periodical, La Civilta Cattolica.

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