Feast of St. Matthew – Apostle
September 21st, 2010
"What I want is mercy not sacrifice"
Matthew 9 : 13
One of the most popular devotions in the Church today is the DIVINE MERCY. This devotion may be relatively new but the great truth of the mercy of God is as old as the Bible itself. When we say people are merciful we usually mean that they are forgiving but scripture writers understood God’s mercy as something much deeper. The mercy of God implied compassion, tenderness and fidelity to the covenant.
In today’s gospel we see Jesus embody the mercy of God when He calls Matthew, the tax collector, to be His follower. Having responded promptly to this unexpected call Matthew celebrates with a party to which He invites not only Jesus but His own mates – the tax collectors and sinners. The Pharisees who prided themselves in keeping their distance from such types of people were scandalised. For them this was surely an occasion of spiritual uncleanness.
But Jesus did not share their scruples. Quoting the Prophet Hosea who was well known to them Jesus affirms the great truth of God’s mercy which reaches out to all His children, especially those rejected by society. These are Jesus table companions and from them he calls Matthew to be one of His twelve apostles.
Prayer
God our loving Father we rejoice in your mercy and compassion towards us. Help us to reflect your mercy in your dealings with others especially those marginalised by society. We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.
The prayer for each day has been prepared by various members of the Holy Family Association. All who visit our website are remembered in prayer. If you would like us to pray for a particular need, simply complete and submit the form on the right hand side of this page. You may wish to leave a comment in the space below.
Just a Thought
How the Holy Family prayer: A Reflection by Pope Benedict XVI
“I would like to invite you to reflect on the place of prayer in the life of the Holy Family of Nazareth. The home of Nazareth, in fact, is a school of prayer where we learn to listen, to ponder and to penetrate the profound meaning of the manifestation of the Son of God, drawing our example from Mary, Joseph and Jesus.
Pope Paul VI during his visit to Nazareth said “we come to understand the need for a spiritual discipline, if we wish to follow the teaching of the Gospel and become disciples of Christ.” And he added: “First, it teaches us silence. Oh! That there would be reborn in us the esteem for silence, that wonderful and indispensable atmosphere of the spirit: while we are deafened by so many noises, sounds and clamorous voices in the frantic and tumultuous times of modern life. Oh! Silence of Nazareth, teach us to be resolute in good thoughts, intent upon the interior life, ready to listen well to the secret inspirations of God and the exhortations of the true masters.”
We can glean several insights on the Holy Family’s prayer and relationship with God from the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ childhood. We may begin with the Presentation of Jesus in the temple. St. Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph, “when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, brought the child up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord”(2:22). Like every observant Jewish family, Jesus’ parents go up to the temple to consecrate the firstborn son to God and to offer sacrifice. Moved by fidelity to the law’s prescriptions, they set off from Bethlehem and go up to Jerusalem with Jesus, who is now forty days old. Instead of a one-year-old lamb, they present the offering of simple families; that is two young pigeons. The Holy Family’s pilgrimage is one of faith, of the offering of gifts, a symbol of prayer, and of encounter with the Lord, whom Mary and Joseph already see in the son Jesus.”
