A Reflection for Friday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Find today’s readings here.
“‘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.’” (Mt 9:12-13)
Three years ago, I published a piece in America marking this Independence Day holiday. In it I wrote about not feeling patriotic, and I talked to my colleagues about moments that made them proud to be American. Much of it was a selfish endeavor; I was hoping that the smart things my smart colleagues told me would pull me out the utterly unpatriotic hole I was in.
In a way, they did; in another, they didn’t. They gave me hope in the good but didn’t solve my bitterness about all the bad. At the time I recognized that publicly calling myself unpatriotic would be upsetting to some, but I decided I was comfortable with naming it anyway. I understand that that kind of statement feels short-sighted, ahistorical and even disrespectful to some. But the sicker our society seems, the less concerned I am about holding on to words and labels that don’t ring true to me. More than I am concerned about respectability, I am concerned about getting well.
In today’s Gospel reading from Matthew, Jesus has something to say about sickness and wellness. He shocks the Pharisees by sitting down at a table with Matthew and with a whole party of tax collectors and sinners. His response? “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.”
Why is this group of people sick? Tax collectors were known to regularly extort and overcharge, making them public symbols of greed and exploitation of the masses. They’re just one example of the kind of social sin that was viewed with hostility by many around Jesus in his day.
Interestingly, in his response to the Pharisees, Jesus also quotes the Book of Hosea when he tells them to take this message to heart:“I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” (Hos 6:6) According to the commentary on this reading in Sacra Pagina, in the context of Matthew’s Gospel, this notion of “sacrifice” likely carries a connotation of ritual purity practices. More than he is concerned about purity, Jesus is concerned about mercy—especially when it comes to the act of treating the spiritually sick.
As we look at our own societal sicknesses, what kind of antidote can mercy be for us? It is challenging to be personally imperfect and to know you need emergency attention. It is also challenging—but perhaps in a different sense—to be part of an entity, an institution, that is imperfect and to know that it needs emergency attention.
Are we doomed? Maybe not, but we’re sick. And that’s one reason why God cares about us, about whether or not we heal. His response, even in the smallest and most private moments of our lives, is mercy. Can we emulate that in our quest to get well?
