St. Matthew
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.”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Out of Our Comfort Zones
If you could have dinner with any dead person, who’d it be? Jesus, duh. Okay, but he’s brought some friends – the local moral rejects and the tax collector from the post – is that okay? Um…
I’m ready to welcome the Good Shepherd, teacher Jesus, the miracle Jesus and maybe even the injustice-denouncing whip-bearing Jesus at the temple, but honestly, I’m not sure how ready I am to welcome this Jesus – the Jesus who called Matthew and who ate with the tycoons and the toxic 1%. Can I share the table with him and with them? Or will I quick offer my judgments like the Pharisees and opt out?
Jesus sends his disciples to the lost sheep; Jesus welcomes whoever comes to him in humility. Who are the people on the edge of our comfort zone – not dangerous but simply disarming – who we might do well to invite to this dinner?
—Fr. Garrett Gundlach, SJ, is a Jesuit priest of the Midwest Province studying Arabic and interfaith dialogue at the University of Saint Joseph in Beirut, Lebanon.
Prayer
Christ,
Coming closer to you
is saying yes to a stretch
Of who I think I can love
with this clumsy heart
Of who I think I can understand
with this limited mind
Of who I think I could befriend
with this small imagination
You stretch me inside
to push me outside
on mission –
To love and listen
To grow my world with your love.
Okay, but gently please, Amen.
—Fr. Garrett Gundlach, SJ