I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners

Tenth Sunday of Ordinary Time Cycle A

Hos 6:3-6 Psalm Ps 50:1, 8, 12-13, 14-15 Rom 4:18-25 Mt 9:9-13

NOTE: This past week our Parish celebrated it's fiesta. The fiesta planners asked if I would come to the Fiesta as St. Anthony of Padua, (our patron). My response was to challenge my fellow parishoners to a greater service to the sick of our community to which they generously responded. As my part of the deal, I got a tonsure and came to the fiesta as St. Anthony.


Tonsure Time
I wanted to point out to those not tall enough to notice that this past Friday I got a new haircut. I told the barber who gave it to me that I would start a new trend – Retro hair circa 1200 AD. He said that he had never given this kind of haircut before in his life, and he kept trying to leave a lot of hair on the top of my head, so that when I cut off the rest of the hair my head wouldn’t look so bad. He was a little embarrassed and kept worrying about what the other hair stylists in the salon would say about his barbering skills. When I got home, I had the help of my family in finally trimming down my hair to the right level of “shaved”.

Witness at Work – Let God out of the box!

At the same time, this has been a beautiful opportunity to witness to the Gospel in a way that people do not expect. It strikes at the heart of our insecurity with God. As Americans, we like to keep our relationship with God nice and private, without any truly disruptive effects on our life. It is unsettling when our love for God leads us to wear a goofy hairstyle. This unsettled-ness can end in one of two ways – either folks can leave thinking that we are just crazy (something that might happen anyway) or they ask “Why?” – which opens the relationship to a deeper level, to more dialog. This is what the readings are about today. Christ tells us himself that he came to heal the sinners, to bring them back into relationship with God – so that they might have abundant life!

The Conversion of St. Matthew

There is a great irony in the Gospel today, and it has many layers, like the layers of an onion. Let’s examine some of the different layers of this Gospel.

Roman Tax Collector = Enemy of God

Matthew, by his own admission is a Tax Collector. That means he was actively working against the Kingdom of Israel by collecting taxes for the Roman Government. You might be thinking to yourself, that’s not bad, I have a friend who works for the IRS and he is not a bad person. This is where some history can help us. In Israel the Roman Government is an enemy force, occupying the Kingdom of Israel and setting up a puppet ruler. The Jews believed that Israel is God’s Kingdom, and so if you are working to collect money for an occupying army, you are a direct enemy of the Kingdom of God. He was actively working to support the enemies of God.

Humility of St. Matthew

The second layer of the onion becomes apparent when we consider which Gospel says this and to which community in the early Church that Gospel was written. St. Matthew himself wrote the Gospel that we read today, so in a way it is a public admission of his own sinfulness. Matthew wrote his Gospel to the early Christian community who were converts to Christianity from Judaism; he was writing this to the folks who would most readily understand the seriousness of his sin.

When we read in the beginning of the Gospel today that Matthew was sitting at his tax post, Matthew is not glorifying his life of sin as sometimes we have a tendency to do when we are not truly repentant. This is a statement of his humility, his admission of the terrible life he led before Jesus was able to touch his heart.

John Chrysostum - God’s Perfect Timing

St. John Chrysostum asked the question – Why didn’t Jesus call Matthew at the same time He called Peter and Andrew, James and John? Jesus called Matthew at the time that was perfect for Matthew’s conversion. He was able to reach into the life of Matthew and touch his heart in a way that opened Matthew up to be filled with the great love of God.

Second Layer of the Onion – Complete conversion

The second layer of the onion is the witness of Matthew’s complete conversion in his heart – that he would admit to his sinful past to the early Jewish church – not to flaunt or wallow in his former sinful life (Something which we do if we are not completely converted in our hearts) – but rather to give glory to God by witnessing to the fullness of His love.

Christ came to bring us into a closer relationship with God. In order for us to enter into a deeper relationship with Him, we need to understand what is getting in the way of our relationship with Him.

More Connected – Less in relationship

Last year a new college was opened up in Lander, Wyoming; the Wyoming Catholic College. This college is the only college in the United States where the dorm rooms have no televisions, the use of cell phones is banned and there is limited internet connectivity. A few weeks ago I had the chance to talk with the president of the college. He explained to me the reason behind these policies. He said that the more connected we are (the more opportunity that we have to text, email, im, phone and chat with one another) the less ability that we have to relate with one another. Technology has become a barrier to true relationship in our world.

Holier than thou!

This difficulty in relationship leads us to the third layer of the onion is Christ’s statement at the end of the Gospel – “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.” Jesus is speaking to the people who are judging him for his actions without understanding His mission to lead people back into relationship with God. The righteous are my their own statement those who think that they are “Holier than thou”.

Let God out of the Box

In many ways the Pharisees who are criticizing Jesus are most like we Americans, because they feel that their relationship with God is private, nicely boxed in and neatly packaged. Like the Pharisees, we too risk a point in our own spiritual lives where our own religious devotion becomes a barrier to a deeper relationship with God. We can get into a mode where we become complacent with our relationship with God. So when Jesus says that he is The Pharisees, like us often use their own religiosity to protect them from a deeper relationship with God. How do we hear Jesus’ statement “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..”? Are we healthy, and so have no need for God’s love, or do we think that we are healthy and are unable to accept Christ’s healing?

Humility opens us up to the healing of the Great Physician

St. Matthew gives us the clue to getting out of this spiritual malaise – humility, recognizing that our souls are sick and in need of the Great Physician – Jesus Christ. Are our relationships with Christ boxed up in nice neat packages that seldom shows it’s light to the world, or are we ready to open ourselves up to the healing love of the Great Physician? Today’s Gospels lead us to the question – Which area of my life is in most need of conversion, of encountering the healing love of God this week?

Play Ball!

Seventh Sunday of Easter Cycle A

Acts 1:1-11 Psalm Ps 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9 Eph 1:17-23 Mt 28:16-20

A New Season for the Rockies
About a month ago, Baseball season began again, and everyone in Denver is asking the question – How will the Rockies do this year. This time last year, no one expected that the Rockies would make it to the Pennant Race, let alone the World Series, and this year, there is great expectation for our boys in purple – Will this be the year when Denver wins the World Series?

A New Season approaches – Ordinary Time
The Readings for today are kind of along the same lines. Today we are celebrating the Ascension of the Lord, and next Sunday we will celebrate the great Feast of Pentecost – the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Church. Then we will be back into “Ordinary Time” – The start of a new season in the Church.

What are we focusing on this Season?
In the readings today, we hear Jesus speaking with the Apostles. They ask Him “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus replies - “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority.”

Many today ask the question – Is now the time for the Rockies to win the World Series? If you came to Mass today wondering if you would learn the answer to this great question, Jesus tells you “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons…”

What we need to focus on this Season
The Apostles are focused on the Kingdom of God, and Jesus tells them not to worry about that but rather to focus on what is important – He goes on to give them our mission – “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Will we make it to the World Series?
This same kind of dialog probably happened in the Rockies dugout at the beginning of the Season, the players, like the Apostles going to Coach Hurdle– “Is this the year to win the World Series” – and Coach Hurdle responding to the team – “Don’t worry about that, let’s focus on the basics of good ball – the future will take care of itself.”

The Coach says – focus on the basics
Likewise, Jesus says to his disciples “Don’t worry about that – lets focus on the basics – Accept the gift of the Holy Spirit and be my witnesses to the ends of the Earth!” Then Jesus ascends into heaven, and the disciples are still standing around looking up at the heavens (probably waiting for the Kingdom of Heaven) – when two Angels appear to them and remind them to get busy about the mission of the Church – “To be my witnesses to the ends of the earth”.

How is the Season shaping up?
How are we doing, as Christ’s Disciples in witnessing to His life to the ends of the Earth? Some would say well, and others would say not so well. If we look about the Church universally, we would see that 2 out of every 3 people living are not Christian. That means that there is still more evangelizing for us to do. Looking at the problem of evangelization at this scale is too difficult, let us leave that problem for the Holy Father, and focus on a more regional area, say in Denver, Here at St. Anthony of Padua, in our homes, at our work or School. Did we witness to Jesus Christ this past week? To whom? How? Why or why not?

Our witness starts with our own relationship with Christ. Do I know Jesus? Do I know him personally? How do I come to know Jesus? - In the body of His Church – the living community that worships and remembers Him.

Bible Thumping and the Canon of Scripture
Our culture views Christians as “Bible Thumpers”. Some of this view is justified, and some not. Do we go to work armed with the Canon of Scripture and Blast away at our Co-Workers. “You cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven unless you are born again from above” “For God so Loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son…”. The Gospel message is not witnessed to by words alone, but by words and action. It is not enough to proclaim that Jesus is Lord, rather we need to witness to His Lordship in our lives and our speech.

Witness first with your actions…
When we stand up for those who are bullied at school, when we refuse to listen to gossip at work or at church. We witness to God when we oppose those who murder the innocent with abortion, oppose those who oppress the poor and take advantage of the immigrant. Our action of love are our primary witness of the Gospel. When people ask us why we are doing these things, then we need to reply with the reasons why our hearts have been converted.

The Elevator Speech – Batting Practice
Once a friend challenged me to write down the reason why I am a Christian in 100 words or less. I think that this is a great challenge for all of us, and if you have never had to do this, sit down this next week and try it out. It really is quiet challenging because it forces us to really think about why we are Christian, and what we would share with someone if asked. Mine went something like this…

I am a Christian because God blessed me with health, security, happiness and faith. Every time I encounter struggle God uses it to show me His love.

When I studied the saints I discovered that I shared their burning love for God, and I saw how God cared for them.

In emulating the Love of Christ, the Love that the saints have for God changes me from a selfish lover to a selfless lover. In this selfless love for His brothers and sisters I have found true happiness.

[PAUSE]

Then with His Word
To be Christ’s witnesses to the ends of the earth in a truly Catholic way means that we witness to the whole Gospel, and the scriptures that come to mind and frame our lives as we engage in the mission of being Christ’s witnesses to the ends of the earth include “When I was sad you comforted me”, “When I was naked, you clothed me”, “When I was hungry you fed me”, “When I was sick, you cared for me”, and “Whenever you did this for the least of my Brothers, you did it for me.” We are called to be Christ’s witnesses to the end of the earth in our actions, actions of love that mirrors Christ’s selfless love on the Cross.

Christianity is a Team Sport – So Get in the Game!
It is important that all of us here today hear the call of the Gospel – We are all on Jesus’ team. His challenge to all of us this next week is to be His witnesses to the ends of the Earth. At the end of this Mass, it is not just the Priest, or the Deacon, or the Extra-ordinary Ministers, or the Musicians who witness to Christ, but rather all of us are on the same team. Our mission this week is to focus on the fundamentals – and for all of us, Laity, Musicians, and Ministers to get in the game – because Christianity works best when everyone on the team is playing their part! Don’t be a Pew Potato – Go out and Play Ball!