Friday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
NO SACRIFICES BUT JUSTICE
THE LORD EATS WITH SINNERS
In line with the promise made by God to give the “Promised Land,” to his descendants, Abraham seeks a wife for his son Isaac from his own relatives, but without letting Isaac live in their pagan environment. For to keep his religion pure, Isaac cannot take a Canaanite wife. God is shown here as the God of history.
The Gospel, which Jesus preaches and lives, is not a religion based on the self-righteousness of people but a religion of love and mercy based on God’s pure generosity. This makes it possible for a typical sinner – an exploiter and a traitor to his people to boot – to be called to be an apostle. And Christ sits at table with sinners – with Levi-Matthew and his friends, with us now “so that sins may be forgiven.”
Reading 1: Gn 23:1-4, 19; 24:1-8, 62-67
1-2 Sarah lived 127 years. Sarah died in Kiriath Arba, present-day Hebron, in the land of Canaan. Abraham mourned for Sarah and wept.
3-4 Then Abraham got up from mourning his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites: “I know I’m only an outsider here among you, but sell me a burial plot so that I can bury my dead decently.”
17-20 That’s how Ephron’s field next to Mamre—the field, its cave, and all the trees within its borders—became Abraham’s property. The town council of Hittites witnessed the transaction. Abraham then proceeded to bury his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah that is next to Mamre, present-day Hebron, in the land of Canaan. The field and its cave went from the Hittites into Abraham’s possession as a burial plot.
Abraham was now an old man. Godhad blessed Abraham in every way.
2-4 Abraham spoke to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of everything he had, “Put your hand under my thigh and swear by God—God of Heaven, God of Earth—that you will not get a wife for my son from among the young women of the Canaanites here, but will go to the land of my birth and get a wife for my son Isaac.”
5 The servant answered, “But what if the woman refuses to leave home and come with me? Do I then take your son back to your home country?”
6-8 Abraham said, “Oh no. Never. By no means are you to take my son back there. God, the God of Heaven, took me from the home of my father and from the country of my birth and spoke to me in solemn promise, ‘I’m giving this land to your descendants.’ This God will send his angel ahead of you to get a wife for my son. And if the woman won’t come, you are free from this oath you’ve sworn to me. But under no circumstances are you to take my son back there.”
62-65 Isaac was living in the Negev. He had just come back from a visit to Beer Lahai Roi. In the evening he went out into the field; while meditating he looked up and saw camels coming. When Rebekah looked up and saw Isaac, she got down from her camel and asked the servant, “Who is that man out in the field coming toward us?”
“That is my master.”
She took her veil and covered herself.
66-67 After the servant told Isaac the whole story of the trip, Isaac took Rebekah into the tent of his mother Sarah. He married Rebekah and she became his wife and he loved her. So Isaac found comfort after his mother’s death.
Gospel: Mt 9:9-13
Passing along, Jesus saw a man at his work collecting taxes. His name was Matthew. Jesus said, “Come along with me.” Matthew stood up and followed him.
10-11 Later when Jesus was eating supper at Matthew’s house with his close followers, a lot of disreputable characters came and joined them. When the Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company, they had a fit, and lit into Jesus’ followers. “What kind of example is this from your Teacher, acting cozy with crooks and misfits?”
12-13 Jesus, overhearing, shot back, “Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? Go figure out what this Scripture means: ‘I’m after mercy, not religion.’ I’m here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders.”
Prayer
God of mercy,
you put the self-righteous to shame
and you call sinners to the task
of bringing your Son’s salvation to the world.
Forgive us our pride and reassure us
that we can count on you and your love
because we are weak and sinful people.
Let us share in your life
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.