GOD CALLS THE WEAK
Introduction
The word of God is alive and active, says the first reading. It is so alive and active that this word of God, spoken by Jesus, changes sinners into saints. This word can judge, but it judges with mildness: by offering new chances. Do we offer these chances to others? Or does our attitude – if not words – of condemnation keep people confined within their mediocrity and failures?
Matthew is a typical sinner, a tax collector, one who was not only exploiting his own people but a traitor to them as a collaborator with the Romans. But he responds to Jesus’ call and becomes an apostle and martyr, faithful to the end.
Heb 4:12-16
God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one can resist God’s Word. We can’t get away from it—no matter what. Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let’s not let it slip through our fingers. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.
Mk 2:13-17
Then Jesus went again to walk alongside the lake. Again a crowd came to him, and he taught them. Strolling along, he saw Levi, son of Alphaeus, at his work collecting taxes. Jesus said, “Come along with me.” He came. Later Jesus and his disciples were at home having supper with a collection of disreputable guests. Unlikely as it seems, more than a few of them had become followers. The religion scholars and Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company and lit into his disciples: “What kind of example is this, acting cozy with the misfits?” Jesus, overhearing, shot back, “Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? I’m here inviting the sin-sick, not the spiritually-fit.”
Prayer
God of mercy and compassion,
you call weak people, sinful as they are,
to give shape to your dreams
about people and their world
and to be instruments of salvation.
Give us trust, not in our own strength,
but in the power of your love,
which can do through us and with us
what we ourselves are incapable of.
We thank you for calling us
out of our frailty and alienation
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Reflection:
14 January 2023
Hebrews 4:12-16
The Word is alive!
We read today two of the much-quoted passages from Hebrews: “For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword…” the “Word of God,” i.e., the Eternal Son of God, the judge of all, is “living,” the source of all life and knowledge, and he cannot be deceived. This is the power of the Word of God. What a pity so many of us are almost total strangers to this Word and have never experienced its power. “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ!” insisted St. Jerome.
Unfortunately, we refused to pay attention to our liturgy and catechesis, and we have done very little to familiarise ourselves with this indispensable tool for our life with God, with each other and the world. A week from now, we celebrate the Sunday of the Word of God. It is timely and urgent that we renew our resolutions and commitment to spend time with the Word of God for reading, prayer and reflection.
In the second part of the reading, Jesus is introduced as our “Great High Priest”. Only the author of the letter to the Hebrews calls Jesus by this title. The Jewish Christians were so accustomed to the title of the High Priest because of their Jewish religious background. In the Old Testament, the high priest would pass from the sight of the people into the Holy of Holies once a year. He was the only person with the right to enter this sacred space. In a similar way, Jesus Our High Priest, after accomplishing his mission, has “passed through the heavens” – has passed from the sight of his disciples, and ascended to the place where God dwells.
The high priest of the Old Testament was a privileged and remote figure – and this happens even in our times too… Our bishops and priests are, sometimes, not accessible to the people. But in Jesus, we have a High Priest who can fully sympathise with all our weaknesses because he has undergone even more trials and temptations than our own.
But, our High Priest is totally without any taint of sin. We are reminded that Jesus our High Priest is not some remote, lofty personage but someone who has shared the experience of human living, including the weaknesses and temptations to which we are all subjected.
In our Eucharist, we continue to meet our High Priest, to whom we express our deepest desire to be united with the self-giving sacrifice of our High Priest.