God seems to have changed His attitude about His people in the both of the readings for mass today. In the first reading, the prophet Amos went to God’s people for the sole purpose of telling them they were going to be severely punished by God for their sins. The people who overcharged others, took advantage of the poor and disregarded the sabbath were going to suffer darkness, and mourning and a famine of the word of God.
Then, when you read Christ’s words in the gospel he said, “I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners, who were very much like the people that the prophet Amos spoke of in the first reading for mass.
What happened? God is so angry at the sinners in the first reading, that He planned to severely punish the entire land for their crimes. Yet Jesus said, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” in today’s gospel. This doesn’t seem to make sense. Jesus taught us that the Father was in Him, and he was in His Father. He said, “my Father and I are one”. This is the Trinity. Jesus and God and the Holy Spirit are so interconnected, and immersed in one another, that they became a single being. If this is the case, then why did Jesus react differently to sinners, than God did in previous times?
Could it be that God grew in His understanding of human beings over the centuries? He created us, and we were a fairly new species, at least initially. God told us what to do and expected us to do it, but then he also gave us freewill. The part about freewill is something that maybe even God can’t completely predict.
It’s pure speculation, but is it possible that God eventually learned, throughout the centuries, that mankind did not change for the better because of punishments and threats? That punishments and threats just didn’t genuinely work. Neither did destroying the entire earth with water, or destroying entire cities with fire, or allowing His people to wander aimlessly in the desert for forty years because they did not listen to Him, and trust Him?
As mankind evolved though, is it possible that God evolved in His understanding of human nature? If threats, punishments and destruction didn’t work, then maybe love would. Christ’s love for people was the opposite of how God the Father treated people in the past.
Sometimes things can get so bad that it can do more harm than good, to keep correcting people, calling to mind their sins, getting angry at them, or punishing them all the time. This is true with children, teenagers and young adults, but it can also apply to marriages too.
Pope Francis likened the condition of our world right now to a field hospital, (or maybe an emergency room). The sins people commit in our secular world can be pretty serious sometimes. They have lost a sense of the sacred, or of virtuous living. Many have no need for God at all.
Pope Francis basically said that when people are bleeding to death in an emergency room, that is not the right time to talk to them about their cholesterol levels. He had the right idea, because this is what Jesus did too, in today’s gospel. He overlooked the tax collectors sins for the moment, and focused on just spending time with them. Actually, he overlooked Matthew’s sins as a tax collector, and made him an Apostle instead. This is the exact opposite of what God did in the first reading for mass today, because maybe God learned that love is the only thing that causes a conversion of the heart.
This is the hardest thing in the world for parents to do, or adult siblings, or families that have some black sheep among them. It is difficult to overlook the serious sins that people commit sometimes, but sometimes things can get bad enough that it is the right thing to do, to set aside their sins and just love the person.
Love is the only thing that heals what is wrong inside a person, and causes a conversion of the heart. Jesus had all the love and patience in the world with people. That is why everyone loved him so much, and amended their lives almost immediately, after they encountered him. He didn’t judge their sins, unless people like the Pharisees judged the sins of others.
This is something many of us need to learn to do better, to just love the person in front of us. Set aside their sins, and just accept them and love them just as they are. Jesus said in today’s gospel that, “Those who are well do not need a physician but the sick do.” There are so many hurting, lonely, neglected, abused, or unloved people in our communities. It may not be obvious to everyone what is wrong, but the most basic need any of us have is to be accepted and unconditionally loved. People who have not experienced this kind of unconditional love are the ones that are spiritually sick. Love is the medicine that they need, in order to heal. And many people have never really felt loved before. You can’t give what you haven’t received.
Jesus gave people the love and acceptance they needed in order to heal and undergo a conversion of the heart. This is what we are called to do as well. Sometimes the more a person acts out, the more they need our love. Perhaps we should try to remember this gospel reading the next time someone we know starts acting irresponsibly, carelessly, or without regard for God or other people. Jesus loved people first, before they loved him back, and we should work on learning to do this as well.
Daily Mass Readings:
Amos 8: 4-6, 9-12 / Psalm 119 / Matthew 9: 9-13
