CCC Cross Reference:
Am 8:4-10 2269; Am 8:4-6 2409; Am 8:6 2449; Am 8:11 2835
Ps119:30 2465
Mt 9:12 581; Mt 9:13 589, 2100
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Reading 1
Am 8:4-6, 9-12
Hear this, you who trample upon the needy
and destroy the poor of the land!
“When will the new moon be over,” you ask,
“that we may sell our grain,
and the sabbath, that we may display the wheat?”
We will diminish the containers for measuring,
add to the weights,
and fix our scales for cheating!
We will buy the lowly man for silver,
and the poor man for a pair of sandals;
even the refuse of the wheat we will sell!”
On that day, says the Lord God,
I will make the sun set at midday
and cover the earth with darkness in broad daylight.
I will turn your feasts into mourning
and all your songs into lamentations.
I will cover the loins of all with sackcloth
and make every head bald.
I will make them mourn as for an only son,
and bring their day to a bitter end.
Yes, days are coming, says the Lord God,
when I will send famine upon the land:
Not a famine of bread, or thirst for water,
but for hearing the word of the Lord.
Then shall they wander from sea to sea
and rove from the north to the east
In search of the word of the Lord,
but they shall not find it.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 119:2, 10, 20, 30, 40, 131
R. (Matthew 4:4) One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Blessed are they who observe his decrees,
who seek him with all their heart.
R. One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
With all my heart I seek you;
let me not stray from your commands.
R. One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
My soul is consumed with longing
for your ordinances at all times.
R. One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
The way of truth I have chosen;
I have set your ordinances before me.
R. One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Behold, I long for your precepts;
in your justice give me life.
R. One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
I gasp with open mouth
in my yearning for your commands.
R. One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Gospel
Mt 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.”
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Amos 8:4 – 12
Listen to this, you who trample on the needy
and try to suppress the poor people of the country,
you who say, ‘When will New Moon be over
so that we can sell our corn,
and sabbath, so that we can market our wheat?
Then by lowering the bushel, raising the shekel,
by swindling and tampering with the scales,
we can buy up the poor for money,
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
and get a price even for the sweepings of the wheat.’
That day – it is the Lord who speaks –
I will make the sun go down at noon,
and darken the earth in broad daylight.
I am going to turn your feasts into funerals,
all your singing into lamentation;
I will have your loins all in sackcloth,
your heads all shaved.
I will make it a mourning like the mourning for an only son,
as long as it lasts it will be like a day of bitterness.
Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 118(119):2,10,20,30,40,131
Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
They are happy who do his will,
seeking him with all their hearts,
I have sought you with all my heart;
let me not stray from your commands.
Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
My soul is ever consumed
as I long for your decrees.
I have chosen the way of truth
with your decrees before me.
Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
See, I long for your precepts;
then in your justice, give me life.
I open my mouth and I sigh
as I yearn for your commands.
Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Gospel Matthew 9:9 – 13
As Jesus was walking on from there he saw a man named Matthew sitting by the customs house, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.
While he was at dinner in the house it happened that a number of tax collectors and sinners came to sit at the table with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ When he heard this he replied, ‘It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. Go and learn the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. And indeed I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.’
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Friday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time
From: Amos 8:4-6, 9-12
Exploiters denounced
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[4] Hear this, you who trample upon the needy,
and bring the poor of the land to an end,
[5] saying, "When will the new moon be over,
that we may sell grain?
And the sabbath,
that we may offer wheat for sale,
that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great,
and deal deceitfully with false balances,
[6] that we may buy the poor for silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
and sell the refuse of the wheat?"
A day of judgment
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[9]"And on that day." says the Lord God
"I will make the sun go down at noon,
and darken the earth in broad daylight.
[10] I will turn your feasts into mourning,
and all your songs into lamentation;
I will bring sackcloth upon all loins,
and baldness on every head;
I will make it like the mourning for an only son,
and the end of it like a bitter day.
[11] "Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord God,
"when I will send a famine on the land;
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the Lord.
[12] They shall wander from sea to sea,
and from north to east;
they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord,
but they shall not find it.
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Commentary:
8:1-14. The fourth vision, that of the ripe fruit (vv. 13), introduces a denunciation of injustices (vv. 4-8) and a further description of the "day of the Lord" (vv. 9-14). The three things are interconnected. In the vision, the prophet plays with the words (v. 2) "summer fruit", qayits, and "end", qets (see notes q and r). In this way he is saying that Israel's rottenness has run its course (vv. 4-8); nothing can be done about it now -- nothing but wait for the day of the Lord's judgment (vv. 9-14).
In his denunciation of injustices, Amos mentions, specifically, fraud (v. 5) and exploitation of others when they are suffering need (v. 6). Church catechesis uses this and other passages (cf. Deut 24:14-15; 25:13-16; Jas 5:4) to spell out what the virtue of justice involves: "We should not dedicate our lives to the accumulation of money and wealth when there are so many others who struggle to survive in abject poverty; thus shall we heed the warning contained in the words of the prophet Amos: Hear this, you who trample upon the needy, and bring the poor of the land to an end, saying, 'When will the new moon be over that we may sell grain? And the sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale" (St Gregory Nazianzen, De pauperum amore [Oratio, 14], 24).
The end of the passage (vv. 9-14) contains the second description of the "day of the Lord" (cf. 5:18-20). The darkness motif in the earlier oracle is developed here by reference to an eclipse (v. 9), but the prophet also brings in other themes -- lamentation and pain (v. 10), weakness in those who should be strong (v. 13), and, particularly, the fruitless search for the word of God (vv. 11-12). It will be a terrible day, when no one can draw benefit from the word of God. Maybe for this reason, the fourth petition of the Our Father ("Give us this day our daily bread") includes a reference to the bread of the Word of God: "There is a famine on earth, 'not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord' (Amos 8:11). For this reason the specifically Christian sense of this fourth petition concerns the Bread of Life -- the Word of God accepted in faith, the Body of Christ received in the Eucharist (cf. Jn 6:26-58)" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2835).
Following the example of Jesus and the apostles, the Fathers often try to find in the prophetical writings of the Old Testament things that are later borne out in the life of Christ. Verses 9-10, it has been suggested, prophesy the death of Jesus and the destruction of Jerusalem that he foretold (cf. Mt 24:2 and par.): "Some prophesied that there would come to Jerusalem a man, scorned and without glory and acquainted with suffering (cf. Is 53:3), seated on the colt of an ass (cf. Zech 9:9); he would offer his back to the lash and his cheeks to their blows, and be led like a lamb to the slaughter (cf. Is 53:7). They would give him gall and vinegar to drink (cf. Ps 68:21); all his friends and allies would forsake him; and he would spread out his hands all the day (cf. Is 65:2), and be jeered and mocked by the crowd, who divide out his clothes among themselves and for his vestments cast lots; he would be crushed into the dust of death (cf. Ps 21:6-7). Thus was it foretold: how He was made flesh, and journeyed to Jerusalem, and suffered his passion, crucified and subjected to the cruelest tortures that men could devise (...). But Amos' words, 'And on that day,' says the Lord God, 'I will make the sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation' (Amos 8:9-10), is a clear prophecy of two things: the setting of the sun in the sixth hour, when the Lord was hanging from the cross; and that the feast days the people celebrate according to the Law and the songs they sang would become days of lamentation and mourning dirges when they are handed over to the Gentiles" (St Irenaeus, Adversus haereses, 4, 33, 12).
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From: Matthew 9:9-13
The Call of Matthew
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[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."
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Commentary:
9. "Tax office": a public place for the payment of taxes. On "following Jesus", see the note on Matthew 8:18-22.
The Matthew whom Jesus calls here is the Apostle of the same name and the human author of the first Gospel. In Mark 2:14 and Luke 5:27 he is called Levi the son of Alphaeus or simply Levi.
In addition to Baptism, through which God calls all Christians (cf. note on Matthew 8:18-22), the Lord can also extend, to whomever He chooses, a further calling to engage in some specific mission in the Church. This second calling is a special grace (cf. Matthew 4:19-21; Mark 1:17-20; John 1:30; etc.) additional to the earlier calling through Baptism. In other words, it is not man who takes the initiative; it is Jesus who calls, and man who responds to this call by his free personal decision: "You did not choose Me, but I chose you" (John 15: 16).
Matthew's promptitude in "following" Jesus' call is to be noted. When God speaks, soul may be tempted to reply, "Tomorrow; I'm not ready yet." In the last analysis this excuse, and other excuses, are nothing but a sign of selfishness and fear (different from that fear which can be an additional symptom of vocation: cf. John 1). "Tomorrow" runs the risk of being too late.
As in the case of the other Apostles, St. Matthew is called in the midst of the ordinary circumstances of his life: "What amazes you seems natural to me: that God has sought you out in the practice of your profession! That is how He sought the first, Peter and Andrew, James and John, beside their nets, and Matthew, sitting in the custom-house. And--wonder of wonders!--Paul, in his eagerness to destroy the seed of the Christians" (St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 799).
10-11. The attitude of these Pharisees, who are so prone to judge others and classify them as just men or sinners, is at odds with the attitude and teaching of Jesus. Earlier on, He said, "Judge not, that you be not judged" (Matthew 7:1), and elsewhere He added, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her" (John 8:7).
The fact is that all of us are sinners; and our Lord has come to redeem all of us. There is no basis, therefore, for Christians to be scandalized by the sins of others, since any one of us is capable of committing the vilest of sins unless God's grace comes to our aid.
12. There is no reason why anyone should be depressed when he realizes he is full of failings: recognition that we are sinners is the only correct attitude for us to have in the presence of God. He has come to seek all men, but if a person considers himself to be righteous, by doing so he is closing the door to God; all of us in fact are sinners.
13. Here Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6, keeping the hyperbole of the Semitic style. A more faithful translation would be: "I desire mercy MORE THAN sacrifice". It is not that our Lord does not want the sacrifices we offer Him: He is stressing that every sacrifice should come from the heart, for charity should imbue everything a Christian does--especially his worship of God (see 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Matthew 5:23-24).
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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