MEDITATION/HOMILY FOR SATURDAY OF THE 1ST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR II 13 JANUARY 2024

MEDITATION/HOMILY FOR SATURDAY OF THE 1ST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR II 13 JANUARY 2024

1Samuel 9:1-4, 17-19; 10:1a; Ps.21; Mark 2:13-17

God does not give up on anyone

A perfect sign of God’s love for man is that he never gives up on anyone. Being love itself, he continues to hope and give everyone the opportunity to belong to him. In today’s gospel, he demonstrated this with Matthew. Matthew was popularly called (and so he was), a tax collector. This nomenclature does not only describe the kind of work he does but also speaks of his moral status as a sinner. Sin was looked at as a communicable disease. Thus, to preserve oneself in holiness, one must keep off from acclaimed sinners.

Even though it is true that Matthew was not innocent of the derogatory conception surrounding him, it is also true that such derogatory conception points to the fact that the people have given up on such acclaimed sinners. There is no hope that they could change for the better.

It is this general conception of hopelessness that Jesus refused to be identified with in today’s gospel. Yes, Matthew is a tax collector and a sinner; yet Jesus says that not only is it possible to turn Matthew back to God, it is also possible for God to use Matthew as a veritable instrument for building God’s kingdom here on earth. God is so great that our sins are unable to constrain him.

The scribes and the Pharisees were too judgmental and close-minded to understanding what great miracle the Lord was performing in their midst. If they had understood, they would have been rejoicing because conversion is a far greater miracle.

If the human mind has not been able to grasp completely the mystery of God, how dare it think that its expectation will be able to constrain God. For not meeting their expectation on the caliber of people who formed his company, the Scribes and the Pharisees conflicted with Jesus. Beloved, if we remain closed to the unlimited possibilities of God, we will find ourselves always unsatisfied. The responsorial psalm tells us that it is only in the strength of the Lord that the king is able to rejoice.

When it comes to our relationship with God, the much we can do is to humbly present our needs before him; we cannot legislate for our creator.