An Entree Of Mercy, Not Sacrifice

Friday of Week 13 in Ordinary Time (Year II)
Amos 8:4-6,9-12 | Psalm 118:2,10,20,30,40,131 | Matthew 9:9-13


Go and learn the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. (Matthew 9:13)

Eh? So why does the Church keep talking about fasting and abstinence then, since Jesus doesn’t want it?

Because that’s not what Jesus meant by “sacrifice”. As Psalm 51:16-17 states:

For in sacrifice you take no delight,
burnt offering from me you would refuse.
My sacrifice, a contrite spirit;
a humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.

In other words, Jesus isn’t asking us for the modern equivalent of sacrificial animals in atonement for sins; Christ Himself was to be the final sacrifice in that vein. The sacrifices Mother Church asks us to make, the fasts and abstinences, are a form of self-denial and humility, as:

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. (Matthew 16:24)

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is opposed to the offering of sacrifices as a form of appeasement, as a way of “purchasing forgiveness” for deliberate moral offences from an angry God. Indeed, it was only a few centuries ago that the blatant buying of indulgences incensed Martin Luther, and his public railing against this practice became one of the cornerstones of the Protestant Reformation that sundered Mother Church.

(On a related note, I think there’s still an unhealthy and incorrect fascination with indulgences during this Jubilee Year of Mercy, with more than a few Catholics believing that just walking through and touching a Holy Door during this time is a “get out of jail free card” for all their sins. See this comprehensive article on what an indulgence is and isn’t.)

In essence, Jesus is saying: “If you think you can buy forgiveness for your ill-treatment of others with two cows and three pigeons (or the modern equivalent thereof), you are sorely mistaken. The prophets have been very clear about this; what part of ‘thou shalt not ill-treat others‘ did you not understand, you sanctimonious fools?”

Similarly, Jesus is reminding us to look to our dealings with the rest of humanity as the barometer of His satisfaction with us, not how many thousands of dollars we donate to the local diocese. The Lord takes no delight in a church paid for by the sufferings of the hungry and trampled poor, but will not spurn the praises of downtrodden people lifted up from the depths of poverty by us grateful children of God.

Amen.

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