Today our Jewish brothers and sisters observe Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. On this day they confess their sins and experience the great mercy of God as they sing in the Psalm 103: “The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.” (Psalm 103:8). The Jewish prophet Hosea proclaimed God’s desire for love and mercy over worship and sacrifice: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” (Hosea 6:6).
In today’s Gospel the Jewish Jesus cites this text of Hosea to justify his actions of eating with “sinner.”
Pharisees: “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
Jesus: “Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ (Hosea 6:6). I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
Today we celebrate the feast of St. Matthew the evangelist and apostle. His Gospel proclaims the message of Jesus, the message of mercy, love, and forgiveness.
Our first reading from Ephesians brings out how God choses different people for different task or ministries.
“And he gave some as Apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the Body of Christ…”
All of us through our baptism form the Body of Christ. Through our baptism we are all called to be evangelists to preach the Gospel of Jesus by our words and even more by our actions.
Let us follow Jesus’ instructions in today’s Gospel as he tells us: “Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ (Hosea 6:6).” We pray with our Jewish brothers and sisters on the Feast of Yom Kippur. We ask forgiveness for the times when we have failed to reflect God’s mercy and God’s love.
Image: “The Apostle Matthew” is marked with CC0 1.0.