"Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
Jesus heard this and said to them,
"Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.
I did not come to call the righteous but sinners." (Mk 2:16-17)
The sick suffer. The infirm, the handicapped, the chronically ill suffer. The socially isolated and depressed suffer. Those who work under stress suffer, just like those who are unemployed, burdened with debt and responsibilities they struggle to meet. Parents suffer together with their children's troubles. Teenagers suffer in their confusion and peer pressure. Expectations generate suffering like windmills. Before coming up with a ready-made cure, the Buddha pointed out to a mother grieving over her dead child to first 'find a household that knows nothing of the suffering of loss ...': of course, the mother realises that all households know loss and suffering. It is a mark of our humanity and mortality. When i am fit i am troubled perhaps by daily pressures, doubts, debts and so forth, but when my back goes out, then the simplest of movements such as getting out of bed become a painful exercise and i am immediately reminded of my human vulnerability. Instead of cursing, i smile. However high i may fly in ignorance and pride, how quickly i find myself back on the ground!
All men are sinners, just as all men know sickness, death and loss. Jesus came for all mankind. There is none more or less worthy of His grace, me thinks. The rules and laws and social norms we create can finally cripple us and create even greater separation from our goal. Jesus points this out by sitting with the social pariahs of his day. Am i aware of my faults, my imprudent behaviour, all the obstacles that i create through my thoughts, words and deeds that keep me separate from Him? And being aware of them, am i strong enough, vigilant enough and humble enough to set down these yolks to sit at His table? Am i adult enough to admit that i often reveal a sickness of spirit which too often corrupts my good intentions ... and that i need a physician ... and that i am ready for the cure? Will i take His medicine?
Oremus:
I pray for all mankind, that they might know peace of mind and see their neighbour in a different light, not as a stranger separate from themselves, but as a brother, friend and fellow human with pains and frustrations and self-imposed separation from grace and forgiveness and love in the Holy Trinity that binds us together. I pray that we may work together to lighten our suffering. I pray that will shall all sit at the Lord's table. Amen.
Deo gratias.
Jesus heard this and said to them,
"Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.
I did not come to call the righteous but sinners." (Mk 2:16-17)
The sick suffer. The infirm, the handicapped, the chronically ill suffer. The socially isolated and depressed suffer. Those who work under stress suffer, just like those who are unemployed, burdened with debt and responsibilities they struggle to meet. Parents suffer together with their children's troubles. Teenagers suffer in their confusion and peer pressure. Expectations generate suffering like windmills. Before coming up with a ready-made cure, the Buddha pointed out to a mother grieving over her dead child to first 'find a household that knows nothing of the suffering of loss ...': of course, the mother realises that all households know loss and suffering. It is a mark of our humanity and mortality. When i am fit i am troubled perhaps by daily pressures, doubts, debts and so forth, but when my back goes out, then the simplest of movements such as getting out of bed become a painful exercise and i am immediately reminded of my human vulnerability. Instead of cursing, i smile. However high i may fly in ignorance and pride, how quickly i find myself back on the ground!
All men are sinners, just as all men know sickness, death and loss. Jesus came for all mankind. There is none more or less worthy of His grace, me thinks. The rules and laws and social norms we create can finally cripple us and create even greater separation from our goal. Jesus points this out by sitting with the social pariahs of his day. Am i aware of my faults, my imprudent behaviour, all the obstacles that i create through my thoughts, words and deeds that keep me separate from Him? And being aware of them, am i strong enough, vigilant enough and humble enough to set down these yolks to sit at His table? Am i adult enough to admit that i often reveal a sickness of spirit which too often corrupts my good intentions ... and that i need a physician ... and that i am ready for the cure? Will i take His medicine?
Oremus:
I pray for all mankind, that they might know peace of mind and see their neighbour in a different light, not as a stranger separate from themselves, but as a brother, friend and fellow human with pains and frustrations and self-imposed separation from grace and forgiveness and love in the Holy Trinity that binds us together. I pray that we may work together to lighten our suffering. I pray that will shall all sit at the Lord's table. Amen.
Deo gratias.
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