Field Hospital
Friday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Read this Gospel passage aloud to the family
Matthew 9: 9-13 – As Jesus passed by, 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.”
(Parent) Reread this part a few times aloud
“…He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs, post. He said to him, ‘Follow me.’”
(Parent) Read this meditation aloud to the family
It is a bit shocking, a bit confusing, that Jesus would stop at a customs post to invite a man to follow Him as a disciple. But that’s what Jesus does with Matthew. Not long after, Matthew becomes one of Jesus’ twelve apostles. Matthew is a Jew, but a bad Jew in many senses. As a tax collector, he works with (and for) the Romans to tax Jews for the sake of the Roman Empire and its projects—some of which the Jews hated. So it scandalizes many Jews when Jesus associates with, and even calls, a man like Matthew. But Christianity is always calling the marginalized and the misfits.
This doesn’t just mean the poor, or the sick, or the elderly, or the lonely. This also means that true Christianity reaches out to the drug addict, the promiscuous four-time divorcée, the imprisoned criminal. It is easy to live Christianity in a “bubble” of good people. But Christ leaves this bubble constantly. If we really want to follow Christ, we have to step out of our comfort zone and embrace those on the fringes of society. Consider: Whom are we trying to welcome from the outside into the faith? Who knows? Like Matthew, they might change, and then they in turn might change the world.
As a family, pray a portion of the Rosary together (very short if children are young) reflecting on the Scripture passage above. (Optional: allow a brief time for discussion or questions from children concerning their thoughts and prayer.)
Reminder for Parents: Pier is just meant to be a jumping off point. The real goal is that you pray & eventually use the fruits of your personal prayer as the content of your family’s prayer. Duc in altum.
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