Pope Francis at Mass on Friday, July 5: “Jesus went looking for sinners, not just righteous” (2013-07-05 Vatican Radio) At the heart of God’s message is mercy: that’s what Pope Francis told staff of the Vatican’s Governatorate gathered for early morning Mass on Friday, July 5th in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae residence in the Vatican. Together with the pope, Cardinal Jorge Liberato Urosa Savino, Archbishop of Caracas concelebrated the early morning liturgy which coincided with Venezuela’s national holiday. (Summary of the Holy Father’s Homily follows today’s Readings) Friday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time/Lectionary: 381 READING I -- GN 23:1-4, 19; 24:1-8, 62-67 The span of Sarah’s life was one hundred and twenty-seven years. She died in Kiriatharba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham performed the customary mourning rites for her. Then he left the side of his dead one and addressed the Hittites: “Although I am a resident alien among you, sell me from your holdings a piece of property for a burial ground, that I may bury my dead wife.” After the transaction, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field of Machpelah, facing Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Abraham had now reached a ripe old age, and the LORD had blessed him in every way. Abraham said to the senior servant of his household, who had charge of all his possessions: “Put your hand under my thigh, and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not procure a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I live, but that you will go to my own land and to my kindred to get a wife for my son Isaac.” The servant asked him: “What if the woman is unwilling to follow me to this land? Should I then take your son back to the land from which you migrated?” “Never take my son back there for any reason,” Abraham told him. “The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and the land of my kin, and who confirmed by oath the promise he then made to me, ‘I will give this land to your descendants’– he will send his messenger before you, and you will obtain a wife for my son there. If the woman is unwilling to follow you, you will be released from this oath. But never take my son back there!” A long time later, Isaac went to live in the region of the Negeb. One day toward evening he went out . . . in the field, and as he looked around, he noticed that camels were approaching. Rebekah, too, was looking about, and when she saw him, she alighted from her camel and asked the servant, “Who is the man out there, walking through the fields toward us?” “That is my master,” replied the servant. Then she covered herself with her veil. The servant recounted to Isaac all the things he had done. Then Isaac took Rebekah into his tent; he married her, and thus she became his wife. In his love for her, Isaac found solace after the death of his mother Sarah. RESPONSORIAL PSALM PS 106:1B-2, 3-4A, 4B-5 R. (1b) Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. Who can tell the mighty deeds of the LORD, or proclaim all his praises? R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. Blessed are they who observe what is right, who do always what is just. Remember us, O LORD, as you favor your people. R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. Visit me with your saving help, That I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones, rejoice in the joy of your people, and glory with your inheritance. R. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. GOSPEL MT 9:9-13 As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” He heard this and said, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” SUMMARY OF HOMILY: In his homily, Pope Francis drew on the Gospel reading from Matthew: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” Pope Francis repeated Jesus’s words to the Pharisees who criticize the Lord for sharing a meal with sinners. The taxpayers, he explained, “were sinners twice because they were attached to money and were also traitors of the country” in the sense that they collected taxes from their own people for the Romans. Jesus, then, sees Matthew, the tax collector, and looks upon him with mercy: Matthew, he says, feels Jesus’s gaze upon him and “he feels stunned; he hears Jesus’ invitation: ‘Follow me! Follow me!’ At that moment, this man is full of joy but he’s also doubtful because he’s also very attached to money. It just took a moment – and we see how (the artist) Caravaggio was able to capture it: that man who was looking, but also, with his hands, was taking the money. Only a moment in which Matthew says yes, leaves everything and goes with the Lord. It is the moment of mercy received and accepted: ‘Yes I’m coming with you!’ And it is the first moment of the meeting, a profound spiritual experience.” The second moment comes as a feast. “The Lord feasts with the sinners”: God’s mercy is celebrated. And following these two moments, the stunned encounter and the feast, comes the “daily work” of announcing the Gospel:“This work must be nurtured with the memory of that first encounter, of that feast. And this is not one moment: up to the end of life. Memory. Memory of what? Of those events! Of that encounter with Jesus who has changed my life! Who had mercy! Who was so good to me and who told me also: ‘invite your friends who are sinners so we can have a feast!’ That memory gives Matthew strength and to all of them to forge ahead. ‘The Lord has changed my life! I met the Lord!’ Remember always. It is like blowing on the embers of that memory, no? Blowing to keep the fire alive, always.” The biblical parables talk of those who refuse to take part in the Lord’s feast. And Jesus went out to “find the poor, the sick and he feasted with them:”“And Jesus, continuing this habit, feasts with the sinners and offers forgiveness to sinners. ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but the sinners.’ Those who consider themselves righteous, they can cook in their own stew! He came for us sinners and this is beautiful. Let us be regarded by Jesus’s mercy; let us celebrate and remember this salvation!”
Posted on: Sat, 06 Jul 2013 11:52:05 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015