Have we learned the meaning of the words I want mercy not sacrifice? How merciful are we really?
Do we look upon visitors or newcomers with suspicion? Will we welcome ex-convicts with open arms into our homes? How often have we visited our aged parents? How regularly do we tend to and pray for those persons living on the margins of society? Those in inhumane life conditions? We cry out to the Lord our God for mercy on us, yet how merciful are we to others?
St Paul reminds us in today’s first reading that as Christians we are to bear with one another charitably, in complete selflessness, gentleness and patience. To preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds us together. We must therefore love one another as we love ourselves, more than that; as how Jesus loves us. Let us live as One body in Christ Jesus our Lord, beloved children of God our Heavenly Father. Let us me merciful as our Heavenly Father is merciful, loving as He is loving and perfect as He is perfect. Amen
Saint Matthew pray for us…
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First reading
Ephesians 4:1-7,11-13 ·
We are all to come to unity, fully mature in the knowledge of the Son of God
I, the prisoner in the Lord, implore you to lead a life worthy of your vocation. Bear with one another charitably, in complete selflessness, gentleness and patience. Do all you can to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together. There is one Body, one Spirit, just as you were all called into one and the same hope when you were called. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God who is Father of all, over all, through all and within all.
Each one of us, however, has been given his own share of grace, given as Christ allotted it. To some, his gift was that they should be apostles; to some, prophets; to some, evangelists; to some, pastors and teachers; so that the saints together make a unity in the work of service, building up the body of Christ. In this way we are all to come to unity in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God, until we become the perfect Man, fully mature with the fullness of Christ himself.
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Gospel
Matthew 9:9-13
It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick
As Jesus was walking on, he saw a man named Matthew sitting by the customs house, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.
While he was at dinner in the house it happened that a number of tax collectors and sinners came to sit at the table with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ When he heard this he replied, ‘It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. Go and learn the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. And indeed I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.’
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