The Gospel reading can be divided into two parts: verse 9, the call of Matthew and verses 10-13, which highlights the citation from Hosea 6:6. Read the following articles about the Call of Matthew: from BibleNotes and from the Bible Journal
1. Jesus' mission was the restoration of Israel. But he did it in a way that the interpreters of the Law were scandalized. Jesus gives "scandal" to those who think that only the righteous should be included in the restored Israel. The Catechism has this about this passage in Matthew:
Jesus gave scandal above all when he identified his merciful conduct toward sinners with God's own attitude toward them. He went so far as to hint that by sharing the table of sinners he was admitting them to the messianic banquet. But it was most especially by forgiving sins that Jesus placed the religious authorities of Israel on the horns of a dilemma. Were they not entitled to demand in consternation, "Who can forgive sins but God alone?"By forgiving sins Jesus either is blaspheming as a man who made himself God's equal, or is speaking the truth and his person really does make present and reveal God's name. (1997 Catechism of the Catholic Church 589)
Reflect: How would you compare Jesus' attitude towards sinners to certain attitudes and mentalities that assume only the righteous should be in Church?
2. Hosea 6:6 is used in a way that should make the Pharisees reflect on the meaning of Israel's religion. The Catechism puts it this way:
Outward sacrifice, to be genuine, must be the expression of spiritual sacrifice: "The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit...." (Ps. 51:17) The prophets of the Old Covenant often denounced sacrifices that were not from the heart or not coupled with love of neighbor. Jesus recalls the words of the prophet Hosea: "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice." (1997, Catechism of the Catholic Church 2100)
One of the things that Jesus said to Sr. Faustina was this: "The greater the sinner, the greater the right he has to My mercy". See the quotation here.
Reflect:In the light of the whole of Matthew 9:9-13, what does "mercy" mean?
3. Again in the Catechism we read this in CCC 2100
The only perfect sacrifice is the one that Christ offered on the cross as a total offering to the Father's love and for our salvation. By uniting ourselves with his sacrifice we can make our lives a sacrifice to God. (1997 Catechism of the Catholic Church 2100)
Reflect: To unite ourselves with the sacrifice of the Lord's total self-giving on the cross is the sacrifice that is pleasing to God. In the sacrifice of the Mass, we make a statement that during the previous week we have been doing precisely that: making our lives a pleasing sacrfice to God. If it is mercy that the Lord wants and not ritual sacrifices, how much of your so-called "sacrifices" are -- in the Lord's eyes -- sacrifices as he would want them?
