＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-13

 Therefore I, the prisoner of Christ,

Invite you to live the vocation you have received.  Be humble, kind, patient, and bear with one another in love. Make every effort to keep among you the unity of Spirit through bonds of peace.  

Let there be one body and one spirit, for God, in calling you, gave the same Spirit to all.   One Lord, one faith, one baptism.  One God, the Father of all, who is above all and works through all and is in all.

 But to each of us divine grace is given ac­cording to the measure of Christ’s gift. As for his gifts, to some he gave to be apostles, to others prophets, or even evangelists, or pastors and teachers.  

So he prepared those who belong to him for the ministry, in order to build up the Body of Christ,   until we are all united in the same faith and knowledge of the Son of God. Thus we shall become the perfect Man, upon reaching maturity and sharing the fullness of Christ.

 

Ps 19:2-3, 4-5

Their message goes out through all the earth.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊  

Matthew 9:9-13

 As Jesus moved on from there, he saw a man named Matthew at his seat in the custom-house, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And Matthew got up and followed him.  Now it happened, while Jesus was at table in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and other sinners joined Jesus and his disciples.  

When the Pharisees saw this they said to his disciples, “Why is it that your master eats with those sinners and tax collectors?”  When Jesus heard this he said, “Healthy people do not need a doctor, but sick people do.  Go and find out what this means: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

 

Gospel Reflection：

It was just one of those days for the tax collector Matthew. He goes to his work and afterwards goes home. The monotony of his work is not something new. But little did he know that everything will change in a flash.

Jesus passes by and invites him. What passes through the mind of Matthew. We will never know. He did not keep a record of that encounter. But he immediately gets up, prepares a feast for his newfound friend, and invites others to partake of his joy.

At last, his otherwise ordinary life has a chance to turn a new pate. What is funny is that the invited guests, or perhaps those who squeezed themselves to the feast, the Pharisees still have nothing good to say of their host.

They complain to the disciples why Jesus prefers the company of the sinners rather than their company? That is when Jesus gives an answer as to why He is drawn to those in the margins of the social and spiritual life. It is because they are the ones who need most the reassuring love and presence of God.