In this episode, Fr. Anthony reflects on Christ's call of St. Matthew as a revelation of the Lord's pastoral wisdom, patience, and mercy. Drawing on St. John Chrysostom, he shows how Christ approaches each person at the moment they are most able to receive Him, gently leading sinners to repentance while shielding the weak from the self-righteous. The homily invites us to imitate this divine pedagogy—offering mercy before rebuke, healing before judgment, and a way of life that draws others to the knowledge of God. +++ Mercy, Not Sacrifice: Christ's Pastoral Method in the Calling of Matthew St. Matthew 9:9-13 At that time, as Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and He said to him, "Follow Me." And he rose and followed Him. And as He sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" But when Jesus heard it, He said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." When looking at this encounter, it is important to know the context. Jesus had been at this for a while. He had already called at least four of the twelve; Andrew, Peter, James and John, to be his disciples. Moreover, in addition to them, many others were following him. He had already been baptized, been tempted, given the Sermon on the Mount and performed several public miracles. Knowing this allows us to better appreciate Christ, how He operates, and therefore how we might better imitate Him as we claim to operate in + His name. Example One: Calling the disciples Let's go back to His calling the disciples. Why didn't He call Matthew at the same time He called Andrew, Peter, James, and John? St. John Chrysostom indicates that it was Christ's pastoral heart that determined when we called each of His disciples. Remember, as the Logos, He shares the Father's will that "all be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:4). This means that He addressed people in the time and manner they were most likely to hear. St. John Chrysostom points out that Matthew's heart was not open to Christ's call at the same time as Andrew, Peter, James, and John. It took miracles and profound teaching to soften His heart for the encounter. And He didn't just do this for Matthew, look how long it took for the Apostle Paul! And perhaps, we can look at long he waited for us! We should learn from this lesson from Christ's earthly ministry and imitate Him. We may need to live among some people for a while, showing the miracle of God's love working in and through us in the way we act and the things we say, before they are ready to accept an invitation to join us in The Way that heals and perfects. Many of us jump the gun; skipping the vital step of living a public life of miraculous love – and then are surprised when the call to "follow Christ" goes unheeded. Yes, there are times when the modern equivalents of scribes and pharisees need to be confronted, but once again, let's imitate Christ and let them out themselves when they question our motives and sanity for performing acts of sacrificial compassion. If we skip the step of imitating Christ in His love for mankind, not only won't we win converts, we may also be indicating that we aren't really working in His Name at all. Example Two: Leaving, not owning the opposition Speaking of which, Christ also demonstrates his pastoral care at the very beginning of today's lesson. You may remember that today's lesson begins with something that seems to be a throwaway line; a transitional clause that lets the reader know that the narrative is moving on to another scene. St. Matthew writes; "At that time, as Jesus passed on from there,…" and then segues into this lesson about how Christ called him, the author, to be His disciple. But what did He leave and why? What did He "pass on" from in the previous scene? Let me share that with you; just prior to this, Jesus had publicly corrected some scribes - leaders in the Jewish community - by healing a man of his paralysis after they doubted His ability to forgive sins. Do you see how they out themselves as fools? But Christ doesn't want them to remain in ignorance. He desires that they, too, be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth … but He also knew that they were not ready to accept the truth, so He left before they could double down on their sin and thus become even less likely to change their way of thinking and eventually answer His call to discipleship. As St. John Christostom puts it; For when He had performed the miracle, He did not remain, lest, being in sight, He should kindle their jealousy the more; but He ...
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