Tenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Father Shawn Aaron, LC

Matthew 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."

Introductory Prayer: Father of love, source of all blessings, help us to pass from our old life of sin to the new life of grace. Prepare us for the glory of your kingdom. Grant this through Christ Our Lord.

Petition: Jesus, I will go where you lead me.

1. And as He Sat at Dinner in the House. “Behold! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me” (Revelation 3:20). They are celebrating Matthew’s vocation to follow Jesus. He could have said “no” or “not now” or “not in this way.” But consider the consequences of his choice. For starters, the dinner feast is precisely the venue where many of Matthew’s friends had their first intimate encounter with Jesus – an encounter that forever changed some of their lives. Jesus knocked at the door of Matthew’s life and Matthew opened it wide to Jesus. Like the Samaritan woman, he ran to get others so that they too might meet Jesus. By way of Matthew’s “yes,” Jesus has already started touching the lives of others. Whenever we say “yes” to Jesus, he will not only work in us, but through us. Today he will invite me to say “yes” to his will and thereby to be his instrument of grace. I am standing at the door, knocking…

2. And He Got Up and Followed Him. He followed him where? Eventually through martyrdom to heaven. When Jesus calls, he rarely gives us a map, only a compass. We do not see the full picture; we simply know the direction. He invites us to follow him and keep our eyes fixed on him “as to a lamp shining in a dark place” (2 Peter 1:19). Matthew really had no clue where his life would end up, and you and I are in the same boat as he. Matthew was sure that Jesus was fully worthy of his trust and his life, and therefore he got up and followed him, even unto death. You and I must choose to remain in the same boat as he did.

3. Why Does Your Teacher Eat with Tax Collectors and Sinners?: So that we might learn the depth of his love for us and that he might teach us how to love. ”God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Mercy is the one form of love that we can never directly exercise toward God. Yet it is his greatest expression of love for us. Therefore, when we practice mercy and forgiveness towards those around us, we are imitating the highest form of love because God has revealed Christ’s cross as the apex of love. Jesus ate with them for the same reason he called Matthew to follow him: because he loves us.

Dialogue with Christ: Jesus I will follow you wherever you lead me. Guide me down the path of a generous love that leads to life. Help me to be generous in the small, daily tasks as well as the big ones. Mother Most Pure, make my heart only for Jesus.

Resolution: Today I will pray an extra decade of the rosary for vocations, that young men and women will be generous in saying “yes” to God’s call.