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“The Calling of Matthew”
by Marinus van Reymerswaele, 1536 |
Readings for Saturday of the
First Week in Ordinary Time [2]
Readings from the Jerusalem
Bible [3]
Readings and Commentary: [4]
Reading I: 1 Samuel 9:1-4, 17-19; 10:1
There was a stalwart man from
Benjamin named Kish,
who was the son of Abiel, son
of Zeror,
son of Becorath, son of
Aphiah, a Benjaminite.
He had a son named Saul, who
was a handsome young man.
There was no other child of Israel
more handsome than Saul;
he stood head and shoulders
above the people.
Now the asses of Saul’s
father, Kish,
had wandered off.
Kish said to his son Saul, “Take one of the servants with
you
and go out and hunt for the
asses.”
Accordingly they went through
the hill country of Ephraim,
and through the land of Shalishah.
Not finding them there,
they continued through the land of Shaalim without success.
They also went through the land of Benjamin,
but they failed to find the
animals.
When Samuel caught sight of
Saul, the LORD assured him,
“This is the man of whom I
told you; he is to govern my people.”
Saul met Samuel in the
gateway and said,
“Please tell me where the
seer lives.”
Samuel answered Saul: “I am
the seer.
Go up ahead of me to the high
place and eat with me today.
In the morning, before
dismissing you,
I will tell you whatever you
wish.”
Then, from a flask he had
with him, Samuel poured oil on Saul’s head;
he also kissed him, saying:
“The LORD anoints you
commander over his heritage.
You are to govern the LORD’s
people Israel,
and to save them from the
grasp of their enemies roundabout.
“This will be the sign for
you
that the LORD has anointed
you commander over his heritage.”
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Commentary on 1 Sm 9:1-4, 17-19; 10:1
We are introduced to Saul in this passage. While on a journey of
three days to try to recover livestock that went missing from his home, Saul
encounters Samuel who is called seer as opposed to prophet at this point in
history. Samuel is told by God that this is the person he is to appoint as King
of Israel. He invites Saul to dine with him and the next day anoints his head
with oil as a sign that he is commander over the heritage given to the Jewish
people by God.
"Everything happens in a natural way, as elsewhere in the
Bible (see especially the Joseph story in Genesis), God's
directing the course of events manifested in the 'accidental' occurrences. Only
thanks to his persevering servant - and against his own intention - does Saul
happen to get to Samuel's town, and only thanks to the chance encounter with
some girls does he enter the town at the precise moment when Samuel comes out,
thus meeting the prophet who will anoint him." [5]
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 21:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
R. (2a) Lord, in your strength the king is glad.
O LORD, in your strength the
king is glad;
in your victory how greatly
he rejoices!
You have granted him his
heart’s desire;
you refused not the wish of
his lips.
R. Lord, in your strength
the king is glad.
For you welcomed him with
goodly blessings,
you placed on his head a
crown of pure gold.
He asked life of you: you
gave him
length of days forever and
ever.
R. Lord, in your strength
the king is glad.
Great is his glory in your
victory;
majesty and splendor you
conferred upon him.
For you made him a blessing
forever;
you gladdened him with the
joy of your face.
R. Lord, in your strength
the king is glad.
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Commentary on Ps 21:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
In this psalm of
praise, the faithful king is honored. This is the first of two parts in the
psalm. “In the first, addressed to God, it puts on record that the king’s
success comes from God (v. 1-6) […] The general tone of the psalm goes beyond
the way things were in the ancient kingdom of Israel and points to the ideal
king. For this reason, both Judaism and the Church read it as a psalm about the
Messiah.” [6]
-------------------------------------------
Gospel: Mark 2:13-17
Jesus went out along the sea.
All the crowd came to him and
he taught them.
As he passed by, he saw Levi,
son of Alphaeus,
sitting at the customs post.
Jesus said to him, “Follow
me.”
And he got up and followed
Jesus.
While he was at table in his
house,
many tax collectors and
sinners sat with Jesus and his disciples;
for there were many who
followed him.
Some scribes who were
Pharisees saw that Jesus was eating with sinners
and tax collectors and said
to his disciples,
“Why does he eat with tax
collectors and sinners?”
Jesus heard this and said to
them,
“Those who are well do not
need a physician, but the sick do.
I did not come to call the
righteous but sinners.”
-------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mk 2:13-17
This passage from St. Mark’s Gospel documents
the call of Matthew, here named Levi. The Gospel of St. Matthew renames
Levi to Matthew so this tax collector, whose call is given special notice, will
be included with the elevated status of the call of the first four disciples.
This story is the setting for the next
conflict/response interchange. Once Matthew follows Jesus, the scribes and
Pharisees challenge the Lord about the people with whom he chooses to associate
because it threatens his status as “teacher.” In response, the Lord uses the famous
analogy of a doctor not being needed by those who are well: "Those who
are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the
righteous but sinners."
CCC: Mk 2:14-17 574; Mk 2:17 545,
1484, 1503
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Reflection:
Today we take notice of St.
Mark’s record of Jesus’ ironic reply to the scribes and Pharisees regarding his
mission. He tells them: “I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” The probable
reaction to this statement by those to whom he addressed it was: “Oh, he’s on a
mission to save those poor sinners,” excluding themselves from the
population that needed calling since they were self-righteous.
We, of course, having been
exposed to the full ministry of Jesus, recognize that the Son of God came into
the world for all peoples, and that no one is free from sin except he who came
to wipe away sin, and the vessel from which he was delivered. Still, we see these pious Jews thinking that
by consorting with those who had been marginalized, Jesus was contaminating
himself, being pulled down to their level, himself being made unfit for their
righteous company.
We think to ourselves: “How
blind these scribes and Pharisees must have been, not to have seen that they
themselves were sinful.” But we are
pulled up short. Are we not guilty of
the same condescension we see in those who looked down on Jesus’ actions in
calling Levi, a tax collector? Do we not
see the poor and those trapped in sin and feel (even secretly) that we are
better than they are, more righteous, more grace-filled, and closer to God?
The great gift of the Gospel
is that it holds up God’s mirror to our faces and tells us to look closely at
ourselves. It calls us to see if we are
truly conforming ourselves to the Lord or simply giving lip service to the one
who came to save all who had sinned, even those of us who believe we are
righteous and free from the worst ravages of sin. If we fall into this latter category it is
probably more difficult for us to find intimate closeness with the Lord than
one who is fully aware of their great failings.
For that tax collector or sinner, society helps them by pointing out
their sins and humiliating them, and in their humility they can find
Christ. Those who cling to their
righteousness find humility elusive, and Jesus, who dines with the sinners, is
difficult to find in the lofty palaces of self-righteousness.
We learned long ago not to
pray for humility because, as Monsignor Robert Lundsford was fond of reminding
us, those who pray for humility should expect God to find a way to humiliate
them. We do pray that we may always be
reminded that Christ came to call sinners and that we are all in that category. Whenever we start to think that we have
somehow avoided sin and have come closer to Jesus, may we look at the Blessed
Mother, the apostles, and all the saints and see how far we have yet to go.
Pax
[1]
General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar Miscellaneous
Notes no. 5.
[2]
The picture is “The Calling of Matthew” by Marinus van Reymerswaele, 1536.
[3]
S.S. Commemoratio[4]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the
psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is
for private use only.
[5]
The Jewish Study Bible, © 2004 Oxford University Press, New York, NY, p. 575.
[6]
The Navarre Bible: “Psalms,” Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, p. 89.
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