“While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples” (MT 9:10).
We as the Church, we as followers of Jesus, still have much to learn from Jesus. Today’s reading provides another wonderful example. Once Jesus begins his public ministry he is constantly on the go. Going where? Meeting people where they were in the midst of their daily lives. And what is the response to Jesus calling Matthew a tax collector and then partaking in table fellowship with tax collectors and sinners? The Pharisees question the disciples about his practice. Onlookers follow at a distance with curiosity. But to those who have, maybe for the first time in their lives, been respected as a fellow human beings, feel hope. Hope that there actually may be a path from the peripheries. Hope that they no longer have to be on the outside looking in.
Jesus is shown time and again in the Gospels to be about encountering the person as they are in their present circumstance and chaos of their lives. He welcomes, is present, embraces the person as they are. He invites people to belong, to be part of something greater than their self, to actualize their potential and embrace a life of meaning and purpose. The only requirement is to be willing to be loved, to be willing to be human, to be willing to be free.
Do we: embrace our fear, stoke our pride believing that we can take care of ourself, build walls of attachment and addiction that appear to make us happy. Or are we willing: to be loved by Jesus, to have the humility to recognize our sinfulness, to let go of our bondage to false illusions of security that keep us from actualizing the truth of who we are and so freely acknowledge that we need one another.
If we are willing to risk, to be vulnerable, to open our heart to Jesus we will experience the love and belonging we seek in the very depths of our soul. This is the fulfillment that no other pursuit or person can bring. We do this best as Jesus did, by being willing to enter into the lives of others, by resisting judgment and accepting another as they are for who they are, being present and willing to accompany our fellow brothers and sisters. For as Jesus said, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” Mercy is, as I have quoted Fr. James Keenan S.J. before, “is the willingness to enter into the chaos of another.” Jesus is willing to do so for us. Are we willing to do so for him?
Painting:
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, 1600
Link for today’s Mass readings:
Spiritual Stepping Stones 