05 July, 2013 - Emphasizing the words of Jesus, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice,”
Pope Francis said on Friday that mercy is the heart of God’s message. The Holy Father
was preaching a homily at Friday morning’s Mass at the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta
residence. Commenting on the day’s Gospel reading on the call of Matthew, he noted
that the publicans, like Mathew the tax collector, were considered double sinners
as they were attached to money and were traitors ,collecting taxes for the Roman emperor.
But when Jesus looked upon Matthew with mercy, the man at the tax collector’s table
sensed something new and awesome - an invitation. He was filled with joy, but also
with doubt, torn between the call of Jesus and his attachment to money, so well depicted
by the 17th century Italian painter Caravaggio. The Holy Father explained
that it was a profound spiritual experience in which Mathew said ‘yes’ to the mercy
of Jesus and accepted it. There is another moment, the Pope said, when Jesus feasts
with sinners, where the mercy of God transforms life. After the two moments - the
awe of encounter and the feast – comes the daily job, of announcing the Gospel, the
Pope explained. And this work must be nurtured by the memory of the first encounter
as well as the feast, that should make us go and invite friends to join in Lord’s
feast that changed our lives. The parables speak of many who refused the Lord’s
invitation and Jesus goes out searching for the poor and the sick to celebrate with
them. Jesus feasts with sinners, offering them his grace. “I desire mercy, not sacrifice,”
the Pope said, repeating the words of Jesus, urging all to allow themselves be looked
upon by the mercy of Jesus.