On the
Call of Matthew
"True Religion Consists in the Love of God and Neighbor"
VATICAN CITY, JUNE 8, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is a
translation of the greeting Benedict XVI gave today
before praying the Angelus with several thousand people
gathered in St. Peter's Square.
* * *
Dear
Brothers and Sisters!
At the center of the Liturgy of the Word this Sunday
there is an expression of the prophet Hosea that Jesus
takes up again in the Gospel: “I want love and not
sacrifice, knowledge of God more than holocausts” (Hosea
6:6).
We have a key word here, one that opens for us the door
to the heart of sacred Scripture. The context in which
Jesus makes it his own, is the call of Matthew, a
“publican” by profession, a tax collector for the
imperial Roman authorities: Because of this he was
considered a public sinner by the Jews.
Called while he was sitting on the tax collector’s bench
-- this scene is beautifully depicted in a celebrated
painting of Caravaggio -- Jesus goes to Matthew’s house
with his disciples and sits down to dinner with other
publicans. To the scandalized Pharisees Jesus replies:
“The healthy do not need the doctor but the sick do … I
have not come to call the righteous but sinners”
(Matthew 9:12-13).
The Evangelist Matthew, who is always attentive to the
link between the Old and the New Testament, puts the
words of Hosea’s prophecy on Jesus’ lips: “Go,
therefore, and learn the meaning of the words: ‘It is
mercy that I want and not sacrifice.’”
The importance of this expression of the prophet is such
that the Lord repeats it again in another context, in
regard to the observance of the Sabbath (cf. Matthew
12:1-8). Even in this context he assumes the
responsibility for the interpretation of this precept,
revealing himself as the “Lord” of the legal
institutions themselves.
Turning to the Pharisees he adds: “If you would have
understood the meaning of the words ‘It is mercy that I
want and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned
those who were without fault” (Matthew 12:7). So, in
this pronouncement of Hosea Jesus, the Word made man, is
fully rediscovered, so to speak.
He made these words his own with all of his heart and he
realized them in his conduct even at the cost of vexing
the leaders of his people. This word of God has reached
us, through the Gospels, as one of the syntheses of the
entire Christian message: True religion consists in the
love of God and neighbor. This is what gives liturgical
worship and the observance of the precepts their value.
Turning now to the Virgin Mary, let us ask through her
intercession always to live in the joy of the Christian
experience. May the Mother of Mercy, the Madonna, awaken
in us the sentiments of filial abandonment to God, who
is infinite mercy; may she help us to make our own the
prayer that St. Augustine formulates in a famous passage
of the “Confessions”: “Have mercy on me, Lord! See, I do
not hide my wounds: You are my doctor, I am the sick
one; you are merciful, I am miserable. All of my hope is
placed in your great mercy” (X, 28, 39; 29, 40).
[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]
[The Holy Father then greeted the people in several
languages. In English, he said:]
I greet all the English-speaking visitors present at
today’s Angelus, especially the group of pilgrims from
Malmö in Sweden. I pray that your visit to Rome may
strengthen your faith and deepen your love for Jesus
Christ, our Lord and Saviour. In this Sunday’s Gospel,
we hear how Jesus called Matthew, the tax collector.
Immediately Matthew rose and became a follower of our
Lord. Let us be prepared to turn away from everything
that separates us from God, so that we too can respond
generously to his call. Upon all of you here today, and
upon your families and loved ones at home, I invoke
God’s abundant blessings.
© Copyright 2008 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
