Homily
for the 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle A)
Based on Mt 9:9-13
(Gospel), Ho 6:3-6
(First Reading) and Rm 4:18-25 (Second Reading)
From
the Series: “Reflections and Teachings of the Desert”
MATTHEW’S CALL
“He saw a man named Matthew sitting by
the customs house, and he said to him, ‘Follow me’.” (Mt 9:9)
The Gospel for this
10th
Sunday in
Ordinary
Time
(Cycle A) is taken from Mt 9:9-13 with the title: “The call of Matthew.” Parallel
texts are:
1. Mk
2:13-14 - He went out again to the shore
of the lake;a and all the people came to him, and he taught them (v.
13). As he was walking on he saw Levi the son of Alpheus, sitting by the
customs house, and he said to him, ‘Follow me’. And he got up and followed him.
Footnote a says “The ‘Sea of Galilee’ (Lake of Tiberias’).”
2. Lk
5:27-28 - When he went out after this, he noticed a tax collector, Levi by
name, sitting by the customs house, and said to him, ‘Follow me’ (v. 27). And
leaving everything he got up and followed him (v. 28).
Verse 9 says: As Jesus was walking on from there he saw a man named Matthewd
sitting by the customs house, and he said to him, ‘Follow me’. And he got up
and followed him. Footnote d says “Called Levi by Mk and Lk.”
Parallel texts are:
1. Mt
4:19 - And he said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fishers of men’.
2. Jn
1:43 - The next day, after Jesus had decided to leave for Galilee, he met
Philip and said ‘Follow me’.
2nd Title: “Eating
with sinners.”
Parallel texts are:
1.
Mk 2:15-17 - When Jesus was at dinner in his house, a number of tax collectors and
sinners were also sitting at the table with Jesus and his disciples; for there
were many of them among his followers (v. 15). When the scribes of the Pharisees
party saw him eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his
disciples, ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners? (v. 16). When
Jesus heard this he said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need the doctor,
but the sick. I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners (v. 17).
2.
Lk 5:29-32 - In his honor Levi held a great reception in his house, and with them at
table was a large gathering of tax collectors and others (v. 29). The Pharisees
and scribes complained to his disciples and said, ‘Why do you eat and drink
with tax collectors and sinners? (v. 30)Jesus said to them in reply, ‘It is not
those who are well who need the doctor, but the sick (v. 31). I have not come
to call the virtuous, but sinners to repentance (v. 32).
Verse 10 says: While
he was at dinner in his house, it happened that a number of tax collectors and
sinnerse came to sit at the table with Jesus and his disciples.’
Footnote e says “Those
whose moral conduct or disreputable profession, cf. 5:46+, rendered ‘unclean’
and socially outcast.”
Parallel texts are:
1. Mt
11:19 - The son of man came, eating and
drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax
collectors and sinners”. Yet wisdom has been proved right by her actions.’h
Footnote h says “Var.
‘by her children’, cf. Lk 7:35. Like petulant children who will play none of
the games suggested (in this case they refuse to play either at weddings or at
funerals) the Jews reject all God’s advances whether through the stern penance
of John or through the gentle courtesy of Jesus. In spite of this, God’s wise
design carries through, independently of anything extrinsic to itself, and so
its success is its own vindication.”
2. Lk
15:1-10 - The tax collectors and sinners, meanwhile, were seeking his company
to hear what he had to say (v. 1), and the Pharisees and scribes complained.
“This man’ the said, ‘welcomes sinners and eats with them (v. 2).” So he spoke
this parable to them: (v. 3)‘What man among you with a hundred sheep, losing
one, would not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the missing
one till he found it? (v. 4). And when he found it, would he not joyfully take
it on his shoulders (v. 5). And then, when he got home, call together his
friends and neighbors? Rejoice with me,” he would say ‘I have found my sheep
that was lost (v. 6).’ In the same way, I tell you, there will be more
rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine virtuous
men who have no need of repentance (v. 7). ‘Or again, what woman with ten
drachmas would not, is she lost one,
light a lamp and sweep out the house and search thoroughly till she found it?(v.
8). And then, when she had found it, call together her friends and neighbors?
Rejoice with me,” she would say ‘I have found the drachma I lost (v. 9).’ In
the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one
repentant sinner(v. 10).’
3. Lk
19:1-10 - He entered Jericho and was
going through the town (v. 1), When a man whose name was Zacchaeus made his
appearance; he was one of the senior tax
collectors and a wealthy man (v. 2). He was anxious to see what kind of a man
Jesus was; but he was short and could
not see him for the crowd (v. 3); so he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree
to catch a glimpse of Jesus who was to pass that way (v. 4). When Jesus reached
the spot, he looked up and spoke to him: “Zacchaeus, come down. Hurry, because
I must stay at your house today (v. 5).” And he hurried down and welcomed him
joyfully (v. 6). They all complained when they saw what was happening. “He has
gone to stay at a sinner’s house” they said (v. 7). But Zacchaeus stood his
ground and said to the Lord, “Look, sir, I am going to give half of my property to the poor, and if I
have cheated anybody I will pay him back four times the amount (v. 8).”a And
Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too
is a son of Abraham (v. 9); b For the Son of Man has come to seek
out and to save what was lost (v. 10).” Footnote a says “Fourfold
restitution was imposed by the Jewish law (Ex 21:37) for one case only; Roman
law demanded it of all convicted thieves. Zaccheus goes further: he
acknowledges the obligation in the case of any injustice he may have been
responsible for.”; and Footnote b says “Notwithstanding
his despised profession. No social rank excludes ‘salvation’, cf. 3:12-14. All
the Jewish privileges follow from ‘sonship of Abraham,’ cf. 3:8; Rm 4:11f; Ga
3:7f.
Verses 11 and 12 say: When the Pharisees saw this,
they said to his disciples, “Why does your master eat with tax collectors and
sinners?” When he heard this he replied, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick do.
Parallel text for verse 11 is 1 Tm 1:15 that says: Here is a saying that you can rely oni
and nobody should doubt: That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
I myself am the greatest of them. Footnote i says “Lit. ‘faithful is
the word (or saying): this is one of the characteristic phrases of the Pastoral
Letters, cf. 3:1; 4:9; 2 Tm 2:11; Tt 3:8.”
Verse 13 says: Go
and learn the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice.’f
And indeed I did not come to call the virtuous but sinners. Footnote f says “To
the exact performance of the Law’s external
demands God prefers the inward quality of genuine compassion. It is a
favorite theme of the prophets, Am 5:21+.”
Parallel texts are:
1.
Mt 12:7 - And if you had understood the meaning
of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned
the blameless.
2.
Ho 6:6 - Since what I want is love, not
sacrifice; knowledge of God, not holocausts.
3.
Mt 18:11
- ‘For the Son of Man has come to save what was lost.’
The First Reading is taken from Ho 6:3-6. are
Verse 3 says: cLet us set ourselves to know Yahweh; that he
will come is as certain as the dawn; he will come to us as showers come, like
spring rains watering the earth.’ Footnote c says “Text
corr.
Parallel texts are:
1. Dt
11:14 - Ib will give your
land rain in season, autumn rain and spring, so that you may harvest your corn,
your wine, your oil. Footnote b says “Here it is God speaking; the transition is abrupt”.
2.
Dt 32:2 - May my teaching fall like the rain,
may my word drop down like the dew, like showers on fresh grass and light rain
on the turf.
3.
Ps 72:6…welcome
as rain that falls on the pasture,d and showers to thirsty soil.
Footnote d says The versions
translate ‘fleece’, cf. Jg 6:37f
4.
Ps 143:6 - I stretch out my hands, like thirsty
ground I yearn for you.
Verse 4 says: What am I
to do with you, Ephraim? What am I to do with you, Judah?e This love
of yours is like a morning cloud, like the dew that quickly disappears.
Footnote e says: “The
original text may have read ‘Israel’ in synonymous parallelism with ‘Ephraim’,
cf. 5:3.”
Parallel texts are:
1.
Ho 13:3…like
the dew that quickly disappears, like the chaff whirledd from the
threshing floor, like smoke escaping through the window. Footnote d says “‘whirled’,
corr.”
2.
Ps 78:36 - But though they outwardly flattered
him and used their tongues to lie to him…
3.
Ws 11:22 - In your sight the whole world is like
a grain of dust that tips the scalesp,like a drop of morning dew falling
on the ground
Footnote
Verse 5 says: His judgment
will rise like the light,d. This is why I have torn them to pieces
by the prophets, why I slaughtered them with the words from my mouth. Footnote d says ‘like
the light’ Greek; ‘light’ Hebr. ‘his judgment’ corr.; ‘thy judgments’.”
Parallel texts are:
1. Ho
12:11 - I will speak to the prophets,o
I will increase the visionsp and through the prophets I will deal
out death.q Footnote
o says “‘I will speak… I will make’; or ‘I spoke…I made’, ‘to the prophets’
Greek; ‘on’ or ‘against the prophets’ Hebr.”; Footnote p says “Prophecy and vision are a sign of God’s
favor, Dt. 18:9-22; Ps 74:9; Lm 2:9; Nb 12:2-8; Ex 33:11.”; and Footnote q
says “As in the case of Elijah, 1 K 18:40. See also Ho 6:5a; Jr 1:10; Is
6:9-13; Ezk 3:17-20, etc. Alternative translation ‘I shall speak (or ‘I spoke’)
in parables.”
2.
Jr 1:10 - Look, today I am setting you over
nations and over kingdoms, to tear up and to knock down, to destroy and to
overthrow, to build and to plant.
3.
Jr 5:14 - Hence- so says Yahweh, the God of
Sabaoth-for saying this: now I will make my words a fire in your mouth, and
this people wood, for the fire to devour.
Verse 6 says: Since what I want is love, not sacrifice; knowledge of God, not
holocausts.
Parallel texts are:
1.
Ho 2:21-22 - I will betroth you to myself for ever, betroth
you with integrity and justice, with tendernessr and love (v. 21); I
will betroth you to myself with faithfulness, and you will come to know Yahweh.s
Footnote q says “God takes back his unfaithful wife with the
fervor of first love, and showers her (cfGn 24:53; 34:12) with spiritual gifts.”;
Footnote r says “The primary
meaning of this word (hesed) is that of a bond, or contract. When used of human
relationship, union, loyalty, especially when there are the outcome of a
treaty. Used of God, the term means his faithfulness to his covenant and the
kindness he therefore shows his chosen people (in Ex 34:6). Used by Hosea in
the context of married love, the word assumes and from then on retains a still
warmer significance: it means the tender love God has for his people, Ps 136;
Jer 31:3; etc., and the benefits deriving from it, Ex 20:6; Dt 5:10; 2 S 22:51;
Jr 32:18; Ps 18:50. But this divinehesed calls for corresponding hesed in man
(Ho 6:6), consisting of self-giving, loving trust, abandonment, deep affection,
‘piety’, a love (in short) which is joyful submission to the will of God and an
active charity to fellowmen, Ho 4:2; 6:6. This ideal, expressed in many of the
Psalms, will later be that of the Hasidim, or ‘Hasidaeans’, cf 1 M 2:42+.”;
and Footnotes says “In Hosea
‘knowledge of Yahweh’ and hesed go together 2:21-22; 4:2; thi ‘knowledge’ is
therefore not merely intellectual. God ‘makes himself known’ to man hen he
engages himself to him by covenant and shows his love (hesed) for him by the
benefits he confers; similarly, man ‘knows God’ when he loyally observes God’s
covenant shows gratitude for God’s gifts, and returns love for love. Cf. Jb
21:14; Pr 2:5; Is 11:2; 58:2. In the wisdom literature ‘knowledge’ and ‘wisdom’
are practically synonymous.”
2.
Ho 8:13 - Israel has rejected the good; the enemyd
will hunt him down. Footnote d
says “Assyria.”
3.
1 S 15:22 - But Samuel replied:d ‘Is the pleasure of Yahweh in
holocausts and sacrifices or in obedience to the voice of Yahweh? Yes,
obedience is better than sacrifice, submissiveness better that the fat of rams.
Rebellion is a sin of sorcery, presumption a crime of terpahim.e Footnote
d says “Samuel
does not condemn sacrificial practice as a whole, but obedience of the heart is
what pleases God, not mere ritual. To practice the second against God’s will is
to do homage to something that is nor God, to be guilty of idolatry, a crime
here suggested by ‘sorcery’ and the mention of teraphim, tutelary idols of
houses and property, Gn 31:19,30f; 1 S 19:13. On consulting teraphim, cf. Ez
21:21.”; and Footnote e says “‘a crime of teraphim’ Symmachus (Symmachus the Ebionite (late 2nd
century), author of one of the Greek versions of the Old Testament).”
4.
Heb 10:9…and then he says: Here I am! I am
coming to obey your will. He is abolishing the first sort to replace it with
the second.
5.
Dn 3:39 - But
by the contrite soul, the humbled spirit be as acceptable to you as holocausts
of rams and bullocks, as thousands of fattened lambs: such let our sacrifice be to you today, and may it be
your will that we follow you wholeheartedly, since those who put their trust in
you will not be disappointed.
6.
Am 5:21 - I hate and despise your feasts, I take
no pleasure in your solemn festivals.
7.
Mt 9:13 - Go
and learn the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice.’f
And indeed I did not come to call the virtuous but sinners. Footnote f
says “To the exact performance of the Law’s external demands God prefers the inward quality of
genuine compassion. It is a favorite theme of the prophets, Am 5:21+.”
8.
Mt 12:7 - And if you had
understood the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice, you
would not have condemned the blameless.
The Second Reading is taken from Rm 4:18-25. are
Verses 18 and 19 say: Though it seemed Abraham’s hope could not be fulfilled, he hoped and
believed, and through doing so he did become the father of many nations exactly
as he had been promised: Your descendants will be as many as the stars. Even
the thought that his body was past fatherhood- he was about a hundred years
old- and Sarah too old to become a mother, did not shake his belief i.
Footnote i says “Lit. ‘Though
he considered his own body dead (and that Sarah’s womb was dead) it was with
unshaken faith’.Text. Rec. and Vulg. ‘His faith was not shaken, nor did he give
a thought to his own body that was dead already’.”
Parallel texts for verse 19 are:
1. Gn
15:5 - Then taking him outside he said: Look up to heaven and count the stars
if you can. Such will your descendants,’ he told him.
2. Gn
17:1,17 - When Abram was ninety-nine
years old Yahweh appeared to him and said, ‘I am El Shaddai. Bear yourself
blameless in my presence (v. 1), Abraham bowed to ground, and he laughed,g thinking to
himself, “Is a child to be born to a man who is one hundred years old, and will
Sarah have a child at the age of ninety?” (v. 17). Footnote g says “Abraham’s
laughter is to be echoed by Sarah’s 18:12, and Ishmael’s 21:9 (See also 21:6);
each is an allusion to the name Isaac, abbreviated form of Yshq-El which means
‘May God smile, be kind’ or ‘has smiled, has been kind’. Abraham’s laughter is
a sign not so much of unbelief as of surprise at the extraordinary
announcement; his mention of Ishmael, present heir-apparent to the Promise, is
an implicit request for reassurance.”
3. Heb
11:11 - It was equally by faith that Sarah, in spite of being past the age, was
made able to conceive, because she believed that who had made the promise would
be faithful to it
Verses 20, 21 and 22 say: Since God has promise it, Abraham either refused to deny it or even to
doubt it but drew strength from faithj and gave glory to God convinced
that God had power to do what he had
promised. This is the faith that was ‘considered as justifying him’. Footnote j
says “Faith is all-powerful, Mk 9:23. It
shares in the divine omnipotence itself, cf 2 Co 12:9-10.”
Parallel texts are:
1.
Mk 9:23 -
‘If you can?’ retorted Jesus. ‘Everything is possible for anyone who has
faith.’
2.
Heb 11:1 - Only faith can guarantee the
blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of the of the realities that
at present remain unseen.
3.
Jr 32:17 - Ah, Lord Yahweh, you have made the
heavens and the earth with your great power and outstretched arm.
4.
Lk 1:37 - For nothing is impossible to God.
Verse 22 says: Scripture however does not refer only
to him but to us as well when it says that his faith was thus ‘considered’.
Parallel text for verse 23 is 1 Co 10:6 that says: These things all happened as warning e for us, not to
have the wicked lusts for forbidden things that they had. Footnote
e says “Lit.
‘types’ (tupoi). The purpose in the events intended by God, was to prefigure in
the history of Israel, the spiritual realities of the messianic age (which are
known as ‘anti-types’, 1 P. 3:21 ,
but cf. Heb. 9:24). These ‘typological’ (or less accurately, ‘allegorical’,
Ga.4:24) meanings in the OT narrative though.”
Verse 24 says: our faith too will be ‘considered’ if
we believe I him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
Parallel text is Rm 1:4 that says: It is about Jesus Christ our Lord who is
the order of the spirit, the spirit of holiness that is in him, was proclaimedc
Son of God in all his power through his resurrection from the dead.d
Footnote c says “Vulg. ‘predestined’.”; and Footnote d
says “For Paul Christ rose only because
God raised him, 1 Th. 1:10; 1 Co. 6:14; 15:15; 2 Co. 4:14; Ga. 1:1; Rm. 4:24;
10:9; Ac. 2:24+; cf. 1 P. 1:21, thus displaying his ‘power’, 2 Cor. 13:4; Rm.
6:4; Ph. 3:10; Col. 2:12; Ep. 1:19f; Heb. 7:16;
and because God raised him to life through the Holy Spirit, Rm. 8:11.
Christ is established in glory as Kyrios, Ph 2:9-11+; Ac 2:36; Rm 14:9,
deserving anew, this time in virtue of his messianic work, the name he had from
eternity, ‘son of God’, Ac 13:33, Heb 1:5; %:5. Cf. Rm 8:11+; 9:5+.
Verse 25 says: Jesus who was put to death for our sins and raised to le to
justify us.k Footnote k says “‘Justice’,
or ‘righteousness’, is in effect the initial sharing in the life of the risen
Christ, 6:4; 8:10, etc.; Apostle Paul never isolates the death of Jesus Christ
from his resurrection.”
Parallel text of verse is that says:
1.
Is 53:5-6 - Yet he was pierced through for our
faults, crushed for our sins. On him lies a punishment that brings us peace,
and through his wounds we are healed (v. 5). We had all gone astray like sheep,
each taking his own way; and Yahweh burdened him with the sins of us all (v.
6).
2.
1 Co 15:17 - And if Christ has not been raised,
you are still in your sins.
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