FRIDAY OF THE THIRTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - Mt 9:9-13 - THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

READING OF THE DAY

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Amos

Am 8:4-6, 9-12

Hear this, you who trample upon the needy

and destroy the poor of the land!

"When will the new moon be over," you ask,

"that we may sell our grain,

and the sabbath, that we may display the wheat?"

We will diminish the containers for measuring,

add to the weights,

and fix our scales for cheating!

We will buy the lowly man for silver,

and the poor man for a pair of sandals;

even the refuse of the wheat we will sell!"

On that day, says the Lord GOD,

I will make the sun set at midday

and cover the earth with darkness in broad daylight.

I will turn your feasts into mourning

and all your songs into lamentations.

I will cover the loins of all with sackcloth

and make every head bald.

I will make them mourn as for an only son,

and bring their day to a bitter end.

Yes, days are coming, says the Lord GOD,

when I will send famine upon the land:

Not a famine of bread, or thirst for water,

but for hearing the word of the LORD.

Then shall they wander from sea to sea

and rove from the north to the east

In search of the word of the LORD,

but they shall not find it.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Matthew

Mt 9:9-13

As Jesus passed by,

he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post.

He said to him, "Follow me."

And he got up and followed him.

While he was at table in his house,

many tax collectors and sinners came

and sat with Jesus and his disciples.

The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples,

"Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

He heard this and said,

"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."

FRIDAY OF THE THIRTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - Mt 9:9-13

THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

Dear People of God,

Today's Word of God talks about Jesus calling Saint Matthew to follow Him. Matthew was a sinful tax collector. While sitting at the tax collection table, Jesus passed by. He noticed him and called out, "Follow me!"

By choosing to call the apostle Matthew, Jesus wanted to announce that He came to earth as a human to redeem sinners, sick people, and people who really need mercy and compassion. The healing grace of God.

The Word of God is the Word of power. The Word has the power to attract people, open their hearts to receive and carry out God's will, to accept the vocation and mission that He gives. He chose to call and give each person a different vocation because of His boundless love. Everyone is given a special place in His heart by God the Father, a special position in God's work, like the image of Saint Matthew. Although in front of people, Matthew was a sinner, full of greed and despised. However, for God, he was in sight of the loving eyes of the merciful One. He personally chose to call and place Saint Matthew in an important position: He was one of the earliest apostles of the work of Redemption, becoming a messenger of the Gospel in the role of transmitting His Word to all humanity.

God lets humanity know: That he always loves and wants to bestow all of His blessings on everyone around the world. He does not distinguish between rich and poor, good and bad; regardless of whether vocation or mission is high or low. He does not distinguish between pagans, righteous people, or sinners. The special thing is, "where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more." (Rom 5:20). Therefore, God sends a message of love that no matter how sinful people are, when they repent, He will forgive them and shower them with grace again. Because in reality in this world, who is righteous before God except the Blessed Mother Mary?

Therefore, through God's Word today, God calls everyone around the world: to repent of their sins and return to God, live according to His invitation, open our hearts, open our souls, open our hearts to receive God's invitation, which is: "Follow me." Follow the Holy Master Jesus, because following God will give us all kinds of happiness in the next life, and in this life "along with persecution" as the Apostle Matthew chose. Because we understand that the happiness of this life is only temporary, the ultimate goal of man is the eternal Kingdom of Heaven in the future.

Thanks be to God. Amen.