Gospel: Matthew 9: 9-13
In every time and place the Pharisee and Jesus have different approaches to different issues. In today's Gospel portion we find Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners, much to the horror of the the Pharisees. The approach of the Pharisee would be to shun and excommunicate these unclean ones, to ostracize and marginalize them. The result of such an approach is all to evident to us. It is the history of the Middle East: endless war, bloodshed, violence, and death. This approach seeks only conquest and elimination.
By contrast Jesus chooses a much different approach, one very radical. It is to invite the sinner to table fellowship with the Lord, to encounter the Lord and find a path to transformation and healing. The path of Jesus is one of dialogue, encounter, and accompaniment, not of exclusion and ostracism. In the example of Jesus we have the application of the scripture Jesus quotes: It is mercy I desire and not sacrifice.
Jesus uses the table fellowship primarily as a place of healing and restoration, not as a place of reward and privilege. The table of the Lord's supper is an operating table on which the physician of our hearts and souls heals us, nourishes us, and makes us stronger day by day through his mercy and loving care. If we are to have a Eucharistic revival, let it be along these lines.
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