Homily Twenty-Fifth Monday in Ordinary Time (Feast of St. Matthew)
Homily Twenty-Fifth Monday in Ordinary Time (Feast of St. Matthew)
Did Jesus follow Matthew to his house or did Matthew follow Jesus to his house. From the Gospel text (Matthew 9:9-13) it is unclear. It is an interesting thing to ponder.
I know that I will go to almost anyone’s house to eat. I have had meals in homeless shelters and soup kitchens on a number of occasions when I have helped serve. When I do go to such facilities, I have eaten with those who are mentally ill, the addicted, the poor, those of different races than myself and those who have criminal backgrounds.
I know I can visit and that I will leave when I want to go back to my comfortable middleclass life. But I am not as comfortable having the people who frequent shelters and homeless shelters at my house. Maybe I am afraid that they will come in and not want to leave.
Jesus probably had a house; it might have been in Capernaum where he spent a lot of time. We know he came from Nazareth, but we don’t know if he lived there his whole adult life. He had a home where he was the principle bread winner. We guess that one of his dependents was his mother Mary.
Did Jesus invite the tax collector Matthew to his house? Did he feed other tax collectors there as well as prostitutes? This would have required a greater sacrifice on his part. When we think of Jesus, we would say that he would have done such things.
Maybe the gesture of be invited into Jesus’ home was the act that cemented Matthew’s decision to throw in his lot with Jesus. When someone became a disciple of a Rabbi it was customary for that Rabbi to provide for the disciple’s needs.
Jesus, by inviting Matthew to follow him, took on the responsibility of supporting him. Matthew responded to Jesus’ act of love by returning love and loyalty in return.
Reflection Questions:
- Have I ever invited someone I was uncomfortable with into my home? What was the result of that encounter?
- I would I feel if I could invite Jesus to dine with me? How would I feel if Jesus invited me to dine with him? Is there a different dynamic?
Dear Parishioners,
Yesterday, I was surprised to see an article about Sacred Heart on the front page of the Quad City Times. The pictures were beautiful and captured the magnificence of our parish church. I hope you were able to see this story. If not, I invite you to look it up online (or follow the link on our Face Book page) . We thank the newspaper for once again giving us good coverage.
I guess maybe the paper was tired of covering all the bad news that we have experienced the past six months, so they wanted to do a good news story. It was nice that this occurred on Sunday. Maybe this will build up the faith of those who read about Sacred Heart.
May Our Lady and all the Angels and Saints watch over you today.
Fr. Mark