The Lamb
Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
First Reading
Hos 6:3-6
In their affliction, people will say:
"Let us know, let us strive to know the LORD;
as certain as the dawn is his coming,
and his judgment shines forth like the light of day!
He will come to us like the rain,
like spring rain that waters the earth."
What can I do with you, Ephraim?
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your piety is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that early passes away.
For this reason I smote them through the prophets,
I slew them by the words of my mouth;
for it is love that I desire, not sacrifice,
and knowledge of God rather than holocausts.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 50:1, 8, 12-13, 14-15
R. (23b) To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
God the LORD has spoken and summoned the earth,
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
"Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
for your holocausts are before me always."
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
"If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for mine are the world and its fullness.
Do I eat the flesh of strong bulls,
or is the blood of goats my drink?"
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
"Offer to God praise as your sacrifice
and fulfill your vows to the Most High;
Then call upon me in time of distress;
I will rescue you, and you shall glorify me."
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
Second Reading
Rom 4:18-25
Brothers and sisters:
Abraham believed, hoping against hope,
that he would become "the father of many nations, "
according to what was said, "Thus shall your descendants be."
He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body
as already dead - for he was almost a hundred years old -
and the dead womb of Sarah.
He did not doubt God's promise in unbelief;
rather, he was strengthened by faith and gave glory to God
and was fully convinced that what he had promised he was also able to do.
That is why it was credited to him as righteousness.
But it was not for him alone that it was written that it was credited to him;
it was also for us, to whom it will be credited,
who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,
who was handed over for our transgressions
and was raised for our justification.
Gospel
Mt 9:9-13
As Jesus passed on from there,
he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post.
He said to him, "Follow me."
And he got up and followed him.
While he was at table in his house,
many tax collectors and sinners came
and sat with Jesus and his disciples.
The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples,
"Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
He heard this and said,
"Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.
Go and learn the meaning of the words,
'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'
I did not come to call the righteous but sinners."
Homily
Hos 6:3-6
Hos 6:3, «Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord; his going forth is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.» 4, What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. 5, Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. 6, For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings.
The Prophet Hosea, whom we read today in the first reading, lived in the middle of the eighth century before our era. If Jesus cites him in this Sunday's gospel, it is not without reason: Hosea is the Prophet of the extreme, the Prophet who wants to show the People of God how great, immense, out of proportion is the mercy of the Lord when faced with the multitude of the people's sins and the great number of its infidelities. "For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice." (Hos. 6:6)
Of course, the mercy of God is not at all out of proportion. The mercy of God is in proportion to God himself: it is infinite. This allows us to understand that we cannot understand it! For that which is infinite surpasses the capacities of our natural intellect, which is finite. We must therefore go to a higher level: that of the supernatural intellect, that is to say that of faith! Solely faith in God allows us to understand, and above all to spiritually taste, how great is the mercy of God.
Rm 4:18-25
Rm 4:18, In hope [Abraham] believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations; as he had been told, "So shall your descendants be." 19, He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead because he was about a hundred years old, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. 20, No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22, That is why his faith was "reckoned to him as righteousness." 23, But the words, "it was reckoned to him," were written not for his sake alone, 24, but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him that raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25, who was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Without faith, it is impossible for us to understand the least fragment of the Love of God towards us. Without faith, we cannot understand what are God's intentions for us and for every man and woman called to serve the Lord on earth in order to reign with Him in Heaven! Faith serves to reorient our life: the faith in Jesus Christ proclaimed in the gospel is not destined to make us happy on earth, but rather to give us, here below, the pledge of eternal Life, the sole source of true happiness!
Abraham lived of this faith, and this faith justified him! Having believed in the Word of God, Abraham received life from this same Word, a Word that is a food, a food that inaugurates, in the one who eats it, the very Life of God! "He who through faith is righteous shall live." (Rom 1:17; Hab 2:4) However, Abraham lived before the coming of the Messiah: he hoped, against all hope, for the coming of the promised Messiah. So it was only in hope that Abraham lived of the Life of God. A hope that, however, allowed him to taste by anticipation how great is the mercy of God towards him and towards all humanity...
Mt 9:9-13
Mt 9:9, As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him. 10, And as he sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. 11, And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" 12, But when he heard it, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13, Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."
Abraham left his homeland of Chaldea one day to follow the Lord on the way to the Promised Land. Here, it is Matthew, the publican, or tax collector, who is called to follow Jesus on the way to Heaven. I do believe that if the gospel Jesus preached was meant to make men happy on earth, the Lord would have left Matthew at his tax office, having given him recommendations to be honest with all taxpayers. Instead of that, Jesus tells Matthew: "Follow me." Which means: "Leave all of that and attach yourself to me alone!"
All of us need conversion: all of us must reorient our life, through faith, towards the higher realities. Let us not fear to leave everything for Christ! When death will come, it will be necessary to leave everything. So if we accept our death, we will be able to merit, justly, eternal Life. Otherwise, do we not fear to be strongly attached to all creatures, and first of all to ourselves? So then why not act as if death were already here? Let us be detached from everything! But, through faith, let us be strongly attached to the Lord!
"I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." We are the sinners that Jesus sought. Let us ask Him for forgiveness! Let us love Him with all our heart! Through Mary, may the most great mercy of God overflow in our soul!
Canon Dr. Daniel Meynen
http://meynen.homily-service.net/
Hymn
Parish announcement
1. All June, beginning from the 1st, except Monday, Saturday and Sunday, special services in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus take place at 5:15 p.m. Feel free to join.
2. On Wednesday, 13th of June Church celebrates memorial of St. Anthony of Padua.
3. During summer period from June to August Holy Mass in Polish will not be celebrated.
