Friday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time ‘a’

Mt 9:9-13

The Pharisees observed this and said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” They accused Jesus of associating with those ‘bad’ people. They thought that by doing that, Jesus approved their sinful way of living. They were in shock and could not stand the fact that someone who claimed to be the Son of God ate with sinners instead of avoiding them. Jesus never accepted any sinful way of living, but He did come to help those who got lost. I always liked that clever response of Jesus to those accusations: “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.” A person doesn’t study for years to become a doctor, just to avoid sick people. In a similar way, Jesus never avoids any sinner, but reaches out to them to forgive and to make them well again.