Feast of Saint Matthew

And when Jesus passed on from hence, he saw a man sitting in the custom house, named Matthew; and he saith to him: Follow me. And he rose up and followed him. And it came to pass as he was sitting at meat in the house, behold many publicans and sinners came, and sat down with Jesus and his disciples.

And the Pharisees seeing it, said to his disciples: Why doth your master eat with publicans and sinners? But Jesus hearing it, said: They that are in health need not a physician, but they that are ill. Go then and learn what this meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice. For I am not come to call the just, but sinners.
Matthew 9:9-13 (Douay-Rheims)

Prayer

Dear Father I remember times when I was well and saw people who were sick. How hard it was for me to understand how they suffer from their diseases. Or understand how you are there with them. It wasn't until I was sick myself from sin and from illness that I came to know you better. Even though when I was well I knew you, it wasn't the same. I was pompous in my faith and thought in a self righteous way. How those who are ill are in dire need of our Lord, how wrong I was to think that way. It was then that I needed you because it was my sin that made me think as if I were above everyone else. Dear Father you sent your Son to teach us the way to love and to live according to your Word. You sent Him to bring the sinners healing, to bring them back to you. May I always remember those times when I was well and did not love my neighbor as I should have. The meaning of mercy.

Memorial of Saint Augustine

Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you tithe mint, and anise, and cummin, and have left the weightier things of the law; judgment, and mercy, and faith. These things you ought to have done, and not to leave those undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you make clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but within you are full of rapine and uncleanness.

Thou blind Pharisee, first make clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, that the outside may become clean.
Matthew 23:23-26 (Douay-Rheims)

Prayer

Dear Father I sometimes wonder if we are similar to the scribes and Pharisees that Jesus is aiming at in this reading. Do we collect as they do and not remember what you truly call us to, judgement, mercy and faith. All too often we gather money, collect our pays but forget about those less fortunate than us. We use judgement to avoid doing what is right, we show mercy when it makes us look good, and our faith is not as visible as it should be. I find myself wondering when have I not payed so much attention to what I make and bring home. I wonder if I judge on what I see rather than what I feel coming from the Spirit of God. And last of all, is my faith visible that I may light the way for a lost soul. Have I cleansed my interior self as much as I clean the outside of me. The inside is just as important, if not more so. May I reflect on what Jesus has said and bring it to my life and live his message. Not so much to judge in the way of judging, but to have mercy and faith. To use the right judgement when the time allows to do so in taking care of matters that regard mercy and faith to bring us ever closer to you. Amen