14 January 2023
Saturday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
Within us, perhaps, there are elements of both the sinner and the Pharisee from today’s gospel. The sinner whom Jesus calls and the Pharisee who has a hard time understanding this.
Often within, there is a part of us that we would rather judge, forget, erase or exclude forever—the person we are ashamed of being, the one who has said or done stupid, embarrassing things.
It’s that very person whom Jesus invites to his home, to his table, to share a meal together. Jesus sees through to the heart of sinners. He knows that while their actions may be misguided, the desires behind them are not. For, behind their actions is a longing for freedom, for love, for intimacy and acceptance. These are all valid and good and beautiful. And Jesus says, what they have done does not make them less lovable in my eyes. They will not be punished for being hungry. I will share my meal with them, I will share myself with them and satiate their hunger for life in ways that they have never known. It is for them that I came.
We cannot be reconciled – with ourselves or with others – by excluding. Perhaps, in considering the person within or without that we’d rather exclude, we can imagine Jesus asking us “Will you go out with me to meet them and invite them to my table?”