Daily Gospel Reflection
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January 18, 2020
Jesus went out again beside the sea; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them. As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.
And as he sat at dinner in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples—for there were many who followed him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”
Reflection
There are two things that are a bit odd about the question the scribes ask in the reading for today. First, they ask the disciples a question that only Jesus can answer: “why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Of course, Jesus hears them and answers their question himself. Second, they ask why Jesus eats with sinners, but Jesus is not the host in this reading. He’s the guest. He hasn’t issued the invitation, but accepted it; he didn’t write the guest list, but appeared on it.
Maybe the question isn’t as odd as it seems. Christian hospitality is always by and for Christ. Although the scribes may not know it, Jesus issued the original invitation to Levi, the tax collector: “follow me.” Likewise, in speaking to his disciples, the scribes also make a place for Jesus to speak to them. Because of their question, they also come to hear Jesus’s call. Will they become Jesus’ patients, acknowledging themselves to be “not the righteous but sinners”?
In this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the call of Christian unity asks us to offer hospitality to other Christians for Jesus’ sake, even when they say or do things that make us uncomfortable. Likewise, it asks us to offer hospitality to the hungry, the sick, and the transient, acting with other Christians, putting the needs of God’s little ones first. In our service and our witness of love, as in our eucharistic worship, we must allow Christ to be both our guest and our host.
Prayer
Christ our good shepherd, you tirelessly seek out the lost and give strength to the weary sinner. In your unfathomable mercy, you never cease to pour out blessings upon those who despair of finding you. Help us to extend this same spirit of consolation to our brothers and sisters in need, and may we always imitate your example of tender care towards the marginalized. We ask this in your Name. Amen.
Saint of the Day
"Today, in many parts of the world,
under the inspiring grace of the Holy Spirit,
many efforts are being made in prayer, word and action to attain
that fullness of unity which Jesus Christ desires.
The Sacred Council exhorts all the Catholic faithful to recognize
the signs of the times and to take an active
and intelligent part in the work of ecumenism."
— UNITATIS REDINTEGRATIO §4
As Christians, we are all too familiar with the divisions that have plagued Christ's followers since the very first days of Christianity and continue to this day.
Throughout the twentieth century, as the modern world became increasingly fractured and plagued by violence, Popes John XXIII and Paul VI saw that Christians should heed even more closely Christ's call to be one as Christ is one with the with Father (Jn 17:21). If Christ says, in the Gospel of John, that the world would know that his followers were Christians because of their love for one another (Jn 13:35), the leaders of the Church saw how the bickering and the divisions between Christians marred their witness of Christ to the world. In a divided world, Christians ought to be a witness of the "one faith and one baptism" (Ephesians 4:4-6) they profess in Christ.
John XXIII and Paul VI, particularly, saw it was their responsibility, as Bishop of Rome, Successor of Peter, and Vicar of Christ on earth to try to follow Christ's command to Peter to "feed my sheep," and to care for the flock (Jn 21:17). Thus, these two popes worked hard to bridge centuries-old divisions between Christians. These popes (both canonized saints as of October 2018) advanced the unity of the Church worldwide. As pope, John XXIII established the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity which is today the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity. This branch of the Curia became the Roman Catholic Church's representative in working with other Christians churches and ecumenical organizations.
John XXIII invited theologians from other Christian traditions to Vatican II as observers, such as George Lindbeck, a famous Lutheran American theologian. Opening up dialogue with other Christians led to continued dialogues with Orthodox, Lutheran, and Reform churches. Several of Notre Dame's own theological faculty have been asked by the Vatican to serve on these dialogues, a great honor and responsibility. In 1999, the Lutheran World Federation and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity jointly published the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. This document was a milestone in Lutheran-Catholic relations, since many of Luther's theological rallying cries during the Reformation, nearly 500 years before, centered around issues of justification (e.g., sola fide).
John XXIII's successor, Paul VI, made a great leap in Christian and Orthodox relations by meeting with Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople in 1964, in Jerusalem. Together, Paul and Athenagoras revoked millennium-old excommunications that had been mutually invoked upon their respective churches. Tantur Ecumenical Institute, which houses Notre Dame's Jerusalem Global Gateway, was built to honor this meeting. The Vatican has entrusted to Notre Dame the responsibility for caring for and maintaining this important property, which is built to help Christians truly seek unity through the study of Scripture, discussion and prayer together.
Two important Church teachings regarding Christian Unity and Christian Ecumenism are Unitatis Redintegratio, "Restoration of Unity," and Ut Unum Sint, "That they may be one." Unitatis Redintegratio was a decree drafted by the bishops during the Second Vatican Council and officially promulgated by Paul VI on November 21, 1964. Ut Unum Sint is an encyclical letter by Pope John Paul II, published in May 1995, on the Church's commitment to ecumenism. Both documents urge Christians to work for peace and Christian Unity by healing divisions.
As we mourn the deep divisions in our nation, our Church, and our world, the witness of Christian charity in unity becomes all the more important. Our divided and conflicted world is full of men and women sorely in need of the light and truth of the Gospel.
The image above is of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, which is divided between six branches of Christian churches. It is a sign both of our unity in the mystery of Christ's death and resurrection and in the brokenness of our communion with one another.
On this opening day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, may we work to heal divisions between all Christians, so that we may all be truly one in Christ!
Image Credit: Our featured image is in the public domain. Last accessed November 24, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.
