Amos 8:4-6, 9-12
Psalm 119:2, 10, 20, 30, 40, 131
Matthew 9:9-13
I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.
(Matthew 9:13)
When we think we are spiritually or morally better than others, because we are doing all the right things religiously, and the "others" are not, then we could be in trouble.
Some outwardly religious people in a parish have been observed fuming among themselves, with great indignation, because some newcomers came to Mass inappropriately dressed.
Yet not one of these parishioners approached the newcomers about their manner of dress, an approach that ideally is done charitably, with humility and respect. If such a charitable, sensitive admonition results in an angry rebuff, so be it: "Blessed are you when they insult you . . . because of Me."
Being rebuked for defending, with Christian charity, the sacredness of the sanctuary is much to be preferred over indulging in self-imposed righteousness.
"Jesus has come to seek us all out, but if we think we are already just fine, we thereby close the door against God, for we are all sinners, and all of us stand in need of God."
Father Ed Bakker
Anglican Catholic Church/Original Province
Mission of Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne
Bendigo in the Central Goldfields
Victoria - Australia
