The Catholic Calendar for Friday, July 7, 2006
The Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Amos 8:4-6, 9-12
Psalm 119:2, 10, 20, 30, 40, 131
Matthew 9:9-13

A reflection on today's Scripture. . . .
"I did not come to call the righteous but sinners." (Matthew 9:13)

Some believe that in these enlightened times we have outgrown our need for God, that New Testament morality and ethics are outdated because our growing scientific knowledge and technology have superseded them. Rather than writing a laundry list of our prevalent dishonesties and rationalizations for our destructive acts, suffice it to say that we have not only destroyed time honored institutions such as marriage, fidelity to one another and to God, but we have also transformed human life from a holy gift given us by our Creator into a "disposable " commodity. Our spiritual illness now causes us to practice various forms of cannibalism; and since we remain blind to our maladies, we've espoused societal death.

Today's Gospel shows that we remain plagued by the same disease that led the Pharisees to condemn both Jesus and the sinners and tax collectors with whom He was eating. Secularism, our rejection of God, causes us to become loveless, merciless, self-righteous "experts" in how to live. In Jesus' day, the Pharisees who prided themselves on their knowledge and practice of the law, while also remaining ignorant of God, preferred to despise and revile sinners rather than reaching out to them with the saving love of God.

That Matthew responded so quickly to Christ's invitation to follow Him is evidence that he saw in Christ his opportunity for forgiveness, redemption and the ability to live a more worthy life. We, as Christians, must bear in mind that hatred and rejection will not draw sinners to living a new and better life, but our extending to them the fruit of God's Spirit will.

Blessed redeemer, free us from darkness and inspire our hearts with the warmth and radiance of Your own holy heart and so bring Your love to those in most need. Amen.

- Marie Bocko, OCDS
(mlbocko at earthlink dot net)

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