Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aguinas
Matthew CHAP. 9
9:9–13
9. And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.
10. And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many Publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.
11. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with Publicans and sinners?
12. But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
13. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. xxx.) Having wrought this miracle, Christ would not abide in the same place, lest He should rouse the envy of the Jews. Let us also do thus, not obstinately opposing those who lay in wait for us. And as Jesus departed thence, (namely from the place in which He had done this miracle,) he saw a man sitting at the receipt of custom, Matthew by name.
JEROME. The other Evangelists from respect to Matthew have not called him by his common name, but say here, Levi, for he had both names. Matthew himself, according to that Solomon says. The righteous man accuses himself, (Prov. 18:17.) calls himself both Matthew and Publican, to shew the readers that none need despair of salvation who turn to better things, seeing he from a Publican became an Apostle.
GLOSS. (ap. Anselm.) He says, sitting at the receipt of custom, that is, in the place where the tolls were collected. He was named Telonarius, from a Greek word signifying taxes.
CHRYSOSTOM. Herein he shews the excellent power of Him that called him; while engaged in this dangerous office He rescued him from the midst of evil, as also Paul while he was yet mad against the Church. He saith unto him, Follow me. As you have seen the power of Him that calleth, so learn the obedience of him that is called; he neither refuses, nor requests to go home and inform his friends.
REMIGIUS. He esteems lightly human dangers which might accrue to him from his masters for leaving his accounts in disorder, but, he arose, and followed him. And because he relinquished earthly gain, therefore of right was he made the dispenser of the Lord’s talents.
JEROME. Porphyry and the Emperor Julian insist from this account, that either the historian is to be charged with falsehood, or those who so readily followed the Saviour with haste and temerity; as if He called any without reason. They forget also the signs and wonders which had preceded, and which no doubt the Apostles had seen before they believed. Yea the brightness of effulgence of the hidden Godhead which beamed from His human countenance might attract them at first view. For if the loadstone can, as it is said, attract iron, how much more can the Lord of all creation draw to Himself whom He will!
CHRYSOSTOM. But why did He not call him at the same time with Peter and John and the others? Because he was then still in a hardened state, but after many miracles, and great fame of Christ, when He who knows the inmost secrets of the heart, perceived him more disposed to obedience, then He called him.
AUGUSTINE. (De Cons. Ev. ii. 26.) Or, perhaps it is more probable that Matthew here turns back to relate something that he had omitted; and we may suppose Matthew to have been called before the sermon on the mount; for on the mount, as Luke relates, the twelve, whom He also named Apostles, were chosen.
GLOSS. (non occ.) Matthew places his calling among the miracles; for a great miracle it was, a Publican becoming an Apostle.
CHRYSOSTOM. Why is it then that nothing is said of the rest of the Apostles how or when they were called, but only of Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew? Because these were in the most alien and lowly stations, for nothing can be more disreputable than the office of Publican, nothing more abject than that of fisherman.
GLOSS. (ap. Anselm.) As a meet return for the heavenly mercy, Matthew prepared a great feast for Christ in his house, bestowing his temporal goods on Him of whom he looked to receive everlasting goods. It follows, And it came to pass as he sat at meat in the house.
AUGUSTINE. (De. Cons. Ev. ii. 27.) Matthew has not said in whose house Jesus sat at meat (on this occasion), from which we might suppose, that this was not told in its proper order, but that what took place at some other time is inserted here as it happened to come into his mind; did not Mark and Luke who relate the same shew that it was in Levi’s, that is, in Matthew’s house.
CHRYSOSTOM. Matthew being honoured by the entrance of Jesus into his house, called together all that followed the same calling with himself; Behold many Publicans and sinners came and sat down with Jesus, and with his disciples.
GLOSS. (ap. Anselm.) The Publicans were they who were engaged in public business, which seldom or never can be carried on without sin. And a beautiful omen of the future, that he that was to be an Apostle and doctor of the Gentiles, at his first conversion draws after him a great multitude of sinners to salvation, already performing by his example what he was shortly to perform by word.
GLOSS. (ord.) Tertullian says that these must have been Gentiles, because Scripture says, There shall be no payer of tribute in Israel, as if Matthew were not a Jew. But the Lord did not sit down to meat with Gentiles, being more especially careful not to break the Law, as also He gave commandment to His disciples below, Go not into the way of the Gentiles.
JEROME. But they had seen the Publican turning from sins to better things, and finding place of repentance, and on this account they do not despair of salvation.
CHRYSOSTOM. Thus they came near to our Redeemer, and that not only to converse with Him, but to sit at meat with Him; for so not only by disputing, or healing, or convincing His enemies, but by eating with them, He oftentimes healed such as were ill-disposed, by this teaching us, that all times, and all actions, may be made means to our advantage. When the Pharisees saw this they were indignant; And the Pharisees beholding said to his disciples, Why eateth your Master with Publicans and sinners? It should be observed, that when the disciples seemed to be doing what was sinful, these same addressed Christ, Behold, thy disciples are doing what it is not allowed to do on the Sabbath. (Mat. 12:2.) Here they speak against Christ to His disciples, both being the part of malicious persons, seeking to detach the hearts of the disciple from the Master.
RABANUS. (e Beda.) They are here in a twofold error; first, they esteemed themselves righteous, though in their pride they had departed far from righteousness; secondly, they charged with unrighteousness those who by recovering themselves from sin were drawing near to righteousness.
AUGUSTINE. (ubi sup.) Luke seems to have related this a little differently; according to him the Pharisees say to the disciples, Why do ye eat and drink with Publicans and sinners? (Luke 5:30.) not unwilling that their Master should be understood to be involved in the same charge; insinuating it at once against Himself and His disciples. Therefore Matthew and Mark have related it as said to the disciples, because so it was as much an objection against their Master whom they followed and imitated. The sense therefore is one in all, and so much the better conveyed, as the words are changed while the substance continues the same.
JEROME. For they do not come to Jesus while they remain in their original condition of sin, as the Pharisees and Scribes complain, but in penitence, as what follows proves; But Jesus hearing said, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
RABANUS. He calls Himself a physician, because by a wonderful kind of medicine He was wounded for our iniquities that He might heal the wound of our sin. By the whole, He means those who seeking to establish their own righteousness have not submitted to the true righteousness of God. By the sick, (Rom. 10:3.) He means those who, tied by the consciousness of their frailty, and seeing that they are not justified by the Law, submit themselves in penitence to the grace of God.
CHRYSOSTOM. Having first spoken in accordance with common opinion, He now addresses them out of Scripture, saying, Go ye, and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice.
JEROME. This text from Osee (Hosea 6:6.) is directed against the Scribes and Pharisees, who, deeming themselves righteous, refused to keep company with Publicans and sinners.
CHRYSOSTOM. As much as to say; How do you accuse me for reforming sinners? Therefore in this you accuse God the Father also. For as He wills the amendment of sinners, even so also do I. And He shews that this that they blamed was not only not forbidden, but was even by the Law set above sacrifice; for He said not, I will have mercy as well as sacrifice, but chooses the one and rejects the other.
GLOSS. (ap. Anselm.) Yet does not God contemn sacrifice, but sacrifice without mercy. But the Pharisees often offered sacrifices in the temple that they might seem to men to be righteous, but did not practise the deeds of mercy by which true righteousness is proved.
RABANUS. He therefore warns them, that by deeds of mercy they should seek for themselves the rewards of the mercy that is above, and, not overlooking the necessities of the poor, trust to please God by offering sacrifice. Wherefore, He says, Go; that is, from the rashness of foolish fault-finding to a more careful meditation of Holy Scripture, which highly commends mercy, and proposes to them as a guide His own example of mercy, saying, I came not to call the righteous but sinners.
AUGUSTINE. (ubi sup.) Luke adds to repentance, which explains the sense; that none should suppose that sinners are loved by Christ because they are sinners; and this comparison of the sick shews what God means by calling sinners, as a physician does the sick to be saved from their iniquity as from a sickness: which is done by penitence.
HILARY. Christ came for all; how is it then that He says He came not for the righteous? Were there those for whom it needed not that He should come? But no man is righteous by the law. He shews how empty their boast of justification, sacrifices being inadequate to salvation, mercy was necessary for all who were set under the Law.
CHRYSOSTOM. Whence we may suppose that He is speaking ironically, as when it is said, Behold now Adam is become as one of us. (Gen. 3:22.) For that there is none righteous on earth Paul shews, All have sinned, and need glory of God. (Rom. 3:23.) By this saying He also consoled those who were called; as though He had said, So far am I from abhorring sinners, that for their sakes only did I come.
GLOSS. (ap. Anselm.) Or; Those who were righteous, as Nathanael and John the Baptist, were not to be invited to repentance. Or. I came not to call the righteous, that is, the feignedly righteous, those who boasted of their righteousness as the Pharisees, but those that owned themselves sinners.
RABANUS. In the call of Matthew and the Publicans is figured the faith of the Gentiles who first gaped after the gain of the world, and are now spiritually refreshed by the Lord; in the pride of the Pharisees, the jealousy of the Jews at the salvation of the Gentiles. Or, Matthew signifies the man intent on temporal gain; Jesus sees him, when He looks on him with the eyes of mercy. For Matthew is interpreted ‘given,’ Levi ‘taken,’ the penitent is taken out of the mass of the perishing, and by God’s grace given to the Church. And Jesus saith unto him, Follow me, either by preaching, or by the admonition of Scripture, or by internal illumination.
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Saint Matthew, the first-century tax collector turned apostle who chronicled the life and ministry of Christ in his Gospel, is celebrated by the Church today, September 21. Although relatively little is known about the life of St. Matthew, the account he wrote of Christ's ministry – traditionally considered to be the first of the four Gospels - is of inestimable value to the Church, particularly in its verification of Jesus as the Messiah.
Eastern Catholics and the Orthodox churches celebrate St. Matthew on November 16, along with St. Fulvianus, a prince who is recorded in some traditions as converting from paganism after Matthew's martyrdom.
The Gospel accounts of Mark and Luke, like Matthew's own, describe the encounter between Jesus and Matthew under the surprising circumstances of Matthew's tax-collecting duties. Jewish publicans, who collected taxes on behalf of the Roman rulers of first-century Judea, were objects of scorn and even hatred among their own communities, since they worked on behalf of the occupying power and often earned their living by collecting more than the state's due.
Jesus most likely first encountered Matthew near the house of Peter, in Capernaum near the Sea of Galilee. The meeting of the two was dramatic, as Matthew's third-person account in his Gospel captured: “As Jesus passed on,” the ninth chapter recounts, “he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, 'Follow me'. And he got up and followed him.”
Matthew's calling into Jesus' inner circle was a dramatic gesture of the Messiah's universal message and mission, causing some religious authorities of the Jewish community to wonder: “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus' significant response indicated a central purpose of his ministry: “I did not come to call the righteous but sinners."
A witness to Christ's resurrection after death, as well as his ascension into heaven and the events of Pentecost, Matthew also recorded Jesus' instruction for the apostles to “go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”
Like 11 of the 12 apostles, St. Matthew is traditionally thought to have died as a martyr while preaching the Gospel. The Roman Martyrology describes his death as occurring in a territory near present-day Egypt.
Both the saint himself, and his Gospel narrative, have inspired important works of religious art, ranging from the ornate illuminated pages of the Book of Kells in the ninth century, to the Saint Matthew Passion of J.S. Bach. Three famous paintings of Caravaggio, depicting St. Matthew's calling, inspiration and martyrdom, hang within the Contarelli Chapel in Rome's Church of St. Louis of the French.
Reflecting on St. Matthew's calling, from the pursuit of dishonest financial gain to the heights of holiness and divine inspiration, Pope Benedict said in 2006 that “in the figure of Matthew, the Gospels present to us a true and proper paradox: those who seem to be the farthest from holiness can even become a model of the acceptance of God's mercy and offer a glimpse of its marvelous effects in their own lives.”
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NAVARRE BIBLE COMMENTARY (RSV)
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
From: Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-13
A Call to Unity
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[1] I therefore, a prisoner of the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, [2] with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love, [3] eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. [4] There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, [5] one Lord, one faith, one baptism, [6] one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all. [7] But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.
[11] And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, [12] for the equipment of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for building up the body Christ, [13] until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
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Commentary:
1-16. The second part of the letter points out certain practical consequences of the teaching given earlier. The underlying theme of the previous chapters was the revelation of the "mystery" of Christ—the calling of all men, Gentiles and Jews, to form a single people, the Church. The second part of the letter begins with an appeal to maintain the unity of the Church in the face of factors making for division-- internal discord (vv. 1-3), misuse of the different gifts or charisms with which Christ endows individuals (v. 7), and the danger of being led astray by heretical ideas (v. 14). Against this, St Paul teaches that the Church's unity is grounded on the oneness of God (vv. 4-6), and that Christ acts with full authority in the building up of his body, through its various ministries (vv. 8-13) and through its members' solidarity (vv. 14-16).
1. The exhortation begins by stating a general principle: a Christian's conduct should be consistent with the calling he has received from God.
Enormous consequences flow from the fact of being called to form part of the Church through Baptism: "Being members of a holy nation," St. J. Escriva says, "all the faithful have received a call to holiness, and they must strive to respond to grace and to be personally holy [...]. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who founds the holy Church, expects the members of this people to strive continually to acquire holiness. Not all respond loyally to his call. And in the spouse of Christ there are seen, at one and the same time, both the marvel of the way of salvation and the shortcomings of those who take up that way" (In Love with the Church, 5-6).
Speaking about incorporation into the Church, which is the way of salvation, Vatican II exhorts Catholics to "remember that their exalted condition results, not from their own merits, but from the grace of Christ. If they fail to respond in thought, word and deed to that grace, not only shall they not be saved, but they shall be the more severely judged (see Lk 12:48: 'everyone to whom much is given, of him will much be required'; cf. Mt 5:19-20; 7:21-22; 25:41-46; Jas 2:14)" (Lumen Gentium, 14).
2-3. The virtues which the Apostle lists here are all different aspects of charity which "binds everything together in perfect harmony" (Col 3:14) and is the mark of the true disciple of Christ (cf. Jn 13:35). Charity originates not in man but in God: "it is a supernatural virtue infused by God into our soul by which we love God above everything else for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for love of God" (St Pius X Catechism, 898). In its decree on ecumenism the Second Vatican Council shows the perennial relevance of these words of St Paul: "There can be no ecumenism worthy of the name without interior conversion. For it is from interior renewal of mind (cf. Eph 4:23), from self-denial and unstinted love, that desires of unity take their rise and develop in a mature way. We should therefore pray to the Holy Spirit for the grace to be genuinely self-denying, humble, gentle in the service of others and to have an attitude of brotherly generosity toward them" (Unitatis Redintegratio, 7).
Charity is basic to the building up of a peaceful human society. 'The consciousness of being trespassers against each other goes hand in hand with the call to fraternal solidarity, which St Paul expressed in his concise exhortation to 'forbear one another in love'. What a lesson of humility is to be found here with regard to man, with regard both to one's neighbor and to oneself! What a school of good will for daily living, in the various conditions of our existence!" (John Paul II, Dives In Misericordia, 14).
The peace which unites Christians is the peace which Christ brings, or rather it is Christ himself (cf. 2:14). By having the same faith and the same Spirit, "all find themselves", says St John Chrysostom, "brought together in the Church--old and young, poor and rich, adult and child, husband and wife: people of either sex and of every condition become one and the same, more closely united than the parts of a single body, for the unity of souls is more intimate and more perfect than that of any natural substance. However, this unity is maintained only by 'the bond of peace'. It could not exist in the midst of disorder and enmity.... This is a bond which does not restrict us, which unites us closely to one another and does not overwhelm us: it expands our heart and gives us greater joy than we could ever have if we were unattached. He who is strong is linked to the weaker one to carry him and prevent him from falling and collapsing. Does the weak person feel weak?: the stronger person tries to build up his strength. 'A brother helped is like a strong city', says the wise man (Prov 18:19)" (Hom. on Eph, 9, ad loc.).
Union of hearts, affections and intentions is the result of the action of the Holy Spirit in souls, and it makes for effectiveness and strength in apostolate.
"Do you see? One strand of wire entwined with another, many woven tightly together, form that cable strong enough to lift huge weights. You and your brothers, with wills united to carry out God's will, can overcome all obstacles" (St J. Escriva, The Way, 480).
4-6. To show the importance of unity in the Church, and the theological basis of that unity, St Paul quotes an acclamation which may well have been taken from early Christian baptismal liturgy. It implies that the unity of the Church derives from the unicity of the divine essence. The text also reflects the three persons of the Blessed Trinity who are at work in the Church and who keep it together--one Spirit, one Lord, one God and Father.
There is "only one" Holy Spirit, who brings about and maintains the unity of Christ's mystical body; and there is "only one" such body, the Church: "After being lifted up on the cross and glorified, the Lord Jesus pours forth the Spirit whom he had promised, and through whom he has called and gathered together the people of the New Covenant, which is the Church, into a unity of faith, hope and charity, as the Apostle teaches us (Eph 4:4-5; Gal 3:27-28) [...] It is the Holy Spirit, dwelling in believers and pervading and ruling over the entire Church, who brings about that wonderful communion of the faithful and joins them together so intimately in Christ, for he [the Spirit] is the principle of the Church's unity" (Vatican II, Unitatis Redintegratio, 2). All--Gentiles as well as Jews are called to join this Church; all, therefore, share the one single hope--that of being saints which is implied in the vocation they have received.
Recognition of there being only one Lord, who is head of the mystical body, underlines the unity that should obtain among all the many members of this single body. All its members are solidly built on Christ when they confess "only one" faith--the faith that he taught and which the Apostles and the Church have expressed in clear statements of doctrine and dogma. "There can be only one faith; and so, if a person refuses to listen to the Church, he should be considered, so the Lord commands, as a heathen and a publican (cf. Mt 18:17)" (Pius XII, Mystici Corporis, 10). All Christians have also received only one Baptism, that is, a Baptism by means of which, after making a profession of faith, they join the other members of the Church as their equals. Since there is only "one Lord, one faith, one baptism," "there is a common dignity of members deriving from their rebirth in Christ, a common grace as sons, a common vocation to perfection, one salvation, one hope and undivided charity. In Christ and in the Church there is, then, no inequality arising from race or nationality, social condition or sex, for 'there is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor free; there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus' (Gal 3:28; cf. Col 3:11)" (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium, 32).
God, the Father of all, is, in the last analysis, the basis of the natural unity of mankind. Pope Pius XII, after recalling that the sacred books tell us that all the rest of mankind originated from the first man and woman, and how all the various tribes and peoples grew up which are scattered throughout the world, exclaimed, "This is a wonderful vision which allows us to reflect on the unity of mankind: all mankind has a common origin in the Creator, as we are told, 'one God and father of us all' (Eph 4:6); moreover, all men and women share one and the same nature: all have a material body and an immortal and spiritual soul" (Summi Pontificatus, 18). God is "above all": his lordship and control over things means that he is the author and maintainer of their unity. Throughout history he has acted "through all" his children, that is, believers, whom he has used to bring about unity among men and over all created things. And he dwells "in all" the faithful, for they belong to him; even the deepest recesses of their hearts are his.
7. The diversity of graces or charisms which accompany the various kinds of vocation given to members of the Church do not undermine its unity; rather, they enhance it, because it is Christ himself who bestows these gifts, as St Paul teaches in vv. 8-10. Christ also provides the Church with ministers who devote themselves to building up his body (vv. 11-12).
So just as there is a great variety of personality and situation, the Church evidences many kinds of "charisms" or different ways of actually living out the calling to holiness which God addresses to all. "In the Church", John Paul II points out, "as the community of the people of God under the guidance of the Holy Spirit's working, each member has 'his own special gift', as St Paul teaches (1 Cor 7:7). Although this 'gift' is a personal vocation and a form of participation in the Church's saving work, it also serves others, builds the Church and the fraternal communities in the various spheres of human life on earth" (Redemptor Hominis, 21).
11-12. The Apostle here refers to certain ministries or offices in the Church, which are performed not only in a charismatic way, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, but as an assignment or ministry entrusted to the particular individual by the glorified Lord.
These ministries have to do with preaching (teaching) and government. In 1 Corinthians 12:27-30 and Romans 12:6-8, mention is made, alongside ministries, of other charisms which complete the array of the gifts to be found in the mystical body of Christ. St Paul here presents them as gifts given by Christ, the head of his body, gifts which make for the strengthening of its unity and love. In this connection, see the quotation from Lumen Gentium, 7, in the note on 1:22-23 above. These graces are provided by the Holy Spirit who, "distributing various kinds of spiritual gifts and ministries (cf. 1 Cor 12:4-11), enriches the Church of Jesus Christ with different functions in order to equip the saints for the works of service (cf. Eph 4:12)" (Unitatis Redintegratio, 2).
In the list which St Paul gives the first to appear are apostles. These may be the first apostles (including Paul himself) or a wider group (cf. 1 Cor 15:7; Rom 16:7) which includes others sent as missionaries to establish new Christian communities. Alongside them (as in Eph 2:20; 3:5) come prophets, who are also the bed-rock of the Church, trustees of revelation. Essentially a prophet was not someone "sent" but rather one whose role was to "upbuild, encourage and console" (cf. 1 Cor 14:3; Acts 13:1) and who normally stayed within a particular community. The "evangelists" were others, who had not received a direct revelation but who devoted themselves to preaching the Gospel which the apostles had passed on to them (cf. Acts 21:8; 2 Tim 4:5). It may be that St Paul mentions them here, along with apostles and prophets, because it was evangelists who first preached the Gospel in Ephesus. The last to be mentioned are pastors and teachers, whose role was that of ruling and giving ongoing instruction to particular communities.
There is no necessary reason why the terminology used in apostolic times for ministries in the Church should be the same as that used nowadays; however, the ministries themselves do not change: "Guiding the Church in the way of all truth (cf. Jn 16:13) and unifying her in communion and in the works of ministry, the Holy Spirit bestows upon her varied hierarchic and charismatic gifts, and in this way directs her; and he adorns her with his fruits (cf. Eph 4: 12; 1 Cor 12:4; Gal 5:22)" (Vatican II, Lumen Gentium, 4).
And, of course, all Christians have a responsibility to spread Christ's teaching, to cooperate in the Church's work of catechesis. "Catechesis always has been and always will be", John Paul II teaches, "a work for which the whole Church must feel responsible and must wish to be responsible. But the Church's members have different responsibilities, derived from each one's mission. Because of their charge, pastors have, at differing levels, the chief responsibility for fostering, guiding and coordinating catechesis [...]. Priests and religious have in catechesis a preeminent field for their apostolate. On another level, parents have a unique responsibility. Teachers, the various ministers of the Church, catechists, and also organizers of social communications, all have in various degrees very precise responsibilities in this education of the believing conscience, an education that is important for the life of the Church and affects the life of society as such" (Catechesi Tradendae, 16).
13. The building up of the body of Christ occurs to the extent that its members strive to hold on to the truths of faith and to practice charity. The "knowledge of the Son of God" refers not only to the object of faith--which is basically the acceptance of Christ as true God and true man--but also to a vital and loving relationship with him. A conscientious approach to the personal obligations that faith implies is the mark of maturity, whereas an undeveloped, childish personality is marked by a certain instability.
As Christians develop in faith and love, they become more firmly inserted into the body of Christ and make a greater contribution to its development. In this way "mature manhood" is reached: this seems to refer not to the individual Christian but rather to the "total Christ" or "whole Christ" in St Augustine's phrase, that is, all the members in union with the head, Christ. "It is due to this communication of the Spirit of Christ that all the gifts, virtues, and miraculous powers which are found eminently, most abundantly, and fontally in the head, stream into all the members of the Church and in them are perfected daily according to the place of each in the mystical body of Jesus Christ; and that, consequently, the Church becomes as it were the fullness and completion of the Redeemer, Christ in the Church being in some sense brought to complete achievement" (Pius XII, Mystici Corporis, 34).
"The fullness of Christ" must mean the Church itself or Christians incorporated into Christ; the "fullness" ("pleroma") of a boat is the sum total of the gear, crew and cargo which "fill" the boat, and mean it is ready to weigh anchor. "As members of the living Christ, incorporated into him and made like him by Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist, all the faithful have an obligation to collaborate in the spreading and growth of his body, so that they might bring it to fullness as soon as possible" (Vatican II, Ad Gentes, 36).
From: Matthew 9:9-13The Call of Matthew
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[9] As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and He said to him, "Follow Me." And he rose and followed Him.
[10] And as He sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and His disciples. [11] And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" [12] But when He heard it, He said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. [13] Go and learn what this means, `I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."
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Commentary:
9. "Tax office": a public place for the payment of taxes. On "following Jesus", see the note on Matthew 8:18-22.
The Matthew whom Jesus calls here is the Apostle of the same name and the human author of the first Gospel. In Mark 2:14 and Luke 5:27 he is called Levi the son of Alphaeus or simply Levi.
In addition to Baptism, through which God calls all Christians (cf. note on Matthew 8:18-22), the Lord can also extend, to whomever He chooses, a further calling to engage in some specific mission in the Church. This second calling is a special grace (cf. Matthew 4:19-21; Mark 1:17-20; John 1:30; etc.) additional to the earlier calling through Baptism. In other words, it is not man who takes the initiative; it is Jesus who calls, and man who responds to this call by his free personal decision: "You did not choose Me, but I chose you" (John 15:16).
Matthew's promptitude in "following" Jesus' call is to be noted. When God speaks, soul may be tempted to reply, "Tomorrow; I'm not ready yet." In the last analysis this excuse, and other excuses, are nothing but a sign of selfishness and fear (different from that fear which can be an additional symptom of vocation: cf. John 1). "Tomorrow" runs the risk of being too late.
As in the case of the other Apostles, St. Matthew is called in the midst of the ordinary circumstances of his life: "What amazes you seems natural to me: that God has sought you out in the practice of your profession! That is how He sought the first, Peter and Andrew, James and John, beside their nets, and Matthew, sitting in the custom-house. And--wonder of wonders!--Paul, in his eagerness to destroy the seed of the Christians" (St J. Escriva, The Way, 799).
10-11. The attitude of these Pharisees, who are so prone to judge others and classify them as just men or sinners, is at odds with the attitude and teaching of Jesus. Earlier on, He said, "Judge not, that you be not judged" (Matthew 7:1), and elsewhere He added, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her" (John 8:7).
The fact is that all of us are sinners; and our Lord has come to redeem all of us. There is no basis, therefore, for Christians to be scandalized by the sins of others, since any one of us is capable of committing the vilest of sins unless God's grace comes to our aid.
12. There is no reason why anyone should be depressed when he realizes he is full of failings: recognition that we are sinners is the only correct attitude for us to have in the presence of God. He has come to seek all men, but if a person considers himself to be righteous, by doing so he is closing the door to God; all of us in fact are sinners.
13. Here Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6, keeping the hyperbole of the Semitic style. A more faithful translation would be: "I desire mercy MORE THAN sacrifice". It is not that our Lord does not want the sacrifices we offer Him: He is stressing that every sacrifice should come from the heart, for charity should imbue everything a Christian does—especially his worship of God (see 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Matthew 5:23-24).
Daily Word for Reflection—Navarre Bible Commentary
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