OUR NEED FOR HEALING

SAINT MATTHEW, APOSTLE, EVANGELIST

Eph 4:1-7,11-13; Ps 19:2-5; Mt 9:9-13

The Physician for the Weak and the Sick

Celebrating the feast of Saint Matthew the Evangelist, a former tax collector, allows us to delve deeper into the meaning of our Lord’s parable of the workers in the vineyard. As we noted in yesterday’s reflection, as the landowner, God goes about in search of willing and ready labourers to employ in his vineyard. To work in the vineyard of the Lord, the Church, means to cooperate with God’s grace in building the Church. Thus, God does the fundamental work within our souls, for we make up the vineyard of the Lord as members of the Church. Being in the marketplace, the world, makes us all weak and sick because of sins. The Lord himself seeks and finds us to bring us into his vineyard. Saint Augustine distinguished between the weak and the sick in his sermon on pastors. “Weak men are those who appear to be zealous in doing good works but are unwilling or unable to endure the sufferings that threaten. Lovers of the world, however, who are kept from good works by some evil desire, lie sick and listless, and it is this sickness that deprives them of any strength to accomplish good works.” We are all weak and sick as inhabitants of the world.

The Lord employs all of us in his vineyard. The weak could be considered the early comers because of their willingness to do good, while the sick could be taken to be the latecomers because it takes time to get them ready to work in the vineyard. Saint Paul urges all of us employed in the vineyard of the Lord to work steadfastly to earn our day’s wage. “I, the prisoner in the Lord, implore you to lead a life worthy of your vocation. Bear with one another charitably, in complete selflessness, gentleness and patience. Do all you can to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together.” Through our cooperation with grace, God works in us and through us. We are therefore the vineyard of the Lord according to Paul: “There is one Body, one Spirit, just as you were all called into one and the same hope when you were called.” Next, he affirms the equality of wage we will receive, which we are already enjoying by working in the vineyard of the Lord. “There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God who is Father of all, over all, through all and within all.” God is already in each of us, working with us to make us part of his vineyard. Through our Eucharistic celebration, he continuously strengthens us in our weakness and heals our sickness. He gradually transforms us into his members, and uses us to seek out and employ more workers in his vineyard. We will receive the same reward of God’s life.

As Saint Paul notes, God uses us in various capacities, according to his will for each of us. Yet, he rewards us equally. “Each of us, however, has been given his own share of grace, given as Christ allotted it. To some, his gift was that they should be apostles; to some, prophets; to some, evangelists; to some, pastors and teachers; so that the saints together make a unity in the work of service, building up the body of Christ.” The Lord called Saint Matthew from the marketplace and made him into an apostle. “As Jesus was walking on, he saw a man named Matthew sitting by the customs house, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.” He was a sick man. But our Lord healed him and employed him in his vineyard. Our Lord confirmed this when he responded to the Pharisees: “It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. Go and learn the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. And indeed I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.” By these words he confirmed that his vineyard is our souls, which he is turning into his heavenly garden and dwelling place. Let us remain attentive and focused on our Eucharistic celebration, to learn how to work in our vineyards and earn the heavenly reward like Saint Matthew, the Apostle and Evangelist.

Let us pray: O God, who with untold mercy were pleased to choose as an Apostle Saint Matthew, the tax collector, grant that, sustained by his example and intercession, we may merit to hold firm in following you. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.