Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle A

Hos 6:3-6
Rom 4:18-25
Mt 9:9-13

The readings today lead us to reflect that God’s call – undertaken completely on his own initiative – is not a call based either on merit nor on human judgment. By either of those standards, neither Abraham, nor Matthew, nor the people of whom Hosea speaks would have been called by the Lord. But the readings make it clear that they were called. God’s people doubted him time and time again; Abraham and Sarah were wondering how God’s promise of descendants stood to reason, and the Pharisees objected to Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners. God’s call just doesn’t meet our earthly standards.

Moreover, it is a call that transforms. Jesus calls the sinners, not in order to reward them for their sinful life, but in order to make them saints. This is true of his call addressed to individuals, or to entire nations, such as descended from Abraham.

Today, he calls us in the midst of a culture of death. He calls us in order to transform our culture, its practices, and its policies. He calls us to follow him, as he instructed Matthew, and this “following” means advancing his ways, proclaiming his truth, and defending life.

The fact that he calls also enables us to echo that call. Each in our own way, we can call people to participate in the work of advancing the Kingdom and building the culture of life. We are not content, as Christians, to observe those who do not follow the Lord. We await no invitation, but rather go boldly into the “others’” territory and invite them to an acceptance of God’s call that will transform their lives.