Saturday of 1st Week, even numbered year

« Jesus went out again to the shore of the lake ; and all the people came to him and he taught them. »

Jesus comes to meet us in what we are doing, in our situation and whatever our function is : ’Matthew, son of Alpheus, was sitting at his bureau of tax collector.’

We are all taken up in our situation and to have access to salvation we are going to redefine ourselves in relationship to Jesus. We shall do this in a unique way and no one else can do it for us. Jesus accompanies us and does nothing in our place. Our freedom is in his own, this is what this Word of the Gospel has us understand. Jesus delivers the sick and heals them as he passes in their midst. They come back to good health when in contact with the divine doctor. We touch here the Mercy of God’s Heart.In the overabundance of the mysterious love of his heart he gives his life so that all find life again. Matthew sees him act and is going to follow him straight away. Jesus knows that in the heart of these men and women he has come to spend time with there is a desire for God. It is this desire for God that he comes and take a hold of and awakens. These sinners are children of the Father. Healed by Jesus, they become children of Light. We know what the combat and agony of the Cross is for Jesus who will carry these so as to bring Light and Love to humanity.

« As he was walking along he saw Levi the son of Alpheus sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, ’Follow me.And he got up and followed him. »

We take into account the prodigious dimension of this man who stands up, moves around, taking possession of the world, going ahead in it in a different manner. Such a beautiful dignity offered to us. It enables us to follow someone else, and in great humility to hand ourselves over to them. This is how one freedom can give birth to another, the future will be born out of the relationship born between the two.

Matthew invites Jesus to a big meal , to mark this important event in his life, and he invites his friends who are tax collectors to it. The publicans and scribes are all scandalised seeing Jesus with sinners. Jesus’ combat is one going on on in the inside ! It is one of faith and hope, one which the Pharisees have not

understood. We know too that within ourselves there are zones of darkness that go into revolt when faced with the Tender Mercy of Jesus. We are people who are mixed up and as soon as we touch upon mixed realities, the obscure part of us is awoken and we are scandalised. Jesus wants to heal our hearts that are so divided.

« When the scribes of the Pharisee party saw him eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, »Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners ?’ When Jesus heard this he said tot hem, ’It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. I came not to call the upright, but the sinners."

The sinner has the aspiration to live in another way, he leaves a gap open within himself, a possibility to become otherwise, in a way that brings satisfaction. The sinner who is forgiven brings about a joy that is incarnate, celebrated, he desires to encounter others on his renewed path in life. This life calls him forward and many others with him.

’How is it that this man is sharing meals with these sinners and these tax collectors !" say the scribes on the side of the Pharisees ! How can he be there sitting at the table with many of his disciples !

Wherever Jesus goes, reality becomes transparent and the Infinite Love of God shines forth. Jesus is listened to by all these sinners whose heart is still divided. He listens to them with love. He reveals his heart full of Love for all men, the sick and the healthy ! Only those who are sick recognise Him. Jesus is all-powerful in His Love, he wants to be Light in us, so that wherever we go we bring the Light of his Love.