Breaking the Word

13^th Week in Ord. Time, Friday – 4^th July 2025 – Genesis 23,1-4.19; 24,1-8.62-67 Mt 9,9-13

Dining Companions

Jesus simply ignored rules and standards that went beyond the requirements of the law. He is doing so again in this passage: accepts hospitality in the home of Matthew, a tax collector. There he shares a table with his typical crowd, tax collectors and sinners. The Pharisees perceive tax collectors and sinners as natural companions. They scorn the company Jesus keeps with them (Mt 11,19), yet Jesus is notorious for his companionship with tax collectors and sinners. He himself compares them not to those who are well but to those who are sick. When Jesus tells his disciples to love their enemies, he notes that “even the tax collectors” love those who love them (Mt 5,46). Later, he admonishes the church to relate to unrepentant sinners as if they were Gentiles or tax collectors (Mt 18:17). Confronted by hostile temple authorities, Jesus puts them in the first place: even tax collectors and prostitutes enter the kingdom of God before the enemies (Mt 21,31). Similarly, Jesus’ companionship with sinners appears to be just. He has many harsh words to say, but he directs none of them at sinners. He denounces the cities he has visited for failing to repent (Mt 11,20-21). He pronounces woe against the scribes and the Pharisees (Mt 23). But Jesus never reproves sinners. He does not criticize them. He does not demand their repentance. He simply eats, drinks and enjoys their company, as they are God’s children and his brothers.

St.Thomas the Apostle, Thursday – 3^rd July 2025 — Eph 2,19-22; Jn 20, 24-29

Longing with Patience

Thomas, the Apostle, came to India some two decades after his encounter with the Risen Jesus. Tradition holds that after evangelizing in Syria and Persia, he arrived in Kerala, India around AD 52. He established seven churches over the course of two decades. Around AD 72, he was martyred near Madras-Mylapore, where Santhome Basilica in his name has been erected over his mortal remains. Stories are told of how he performed miracles before members of the Brahmin caste to demonstrate the truth of the Gospel he preached. He worked to bring the people from idolatry to the worship of Jesus, the Messiah and Saviour.

Each encounter with the Risen Jesus has been very unique and has personal notes with an inclusion of time and space. Jesus could have easily appeared to Thomas on Easter Sunday, after having appeared to other apostles, when Thomas alone was missing. Instead, Jesus knew that it was best for Thomas to wait. Thomas’ patience and faith were tested the whole week: Whether he would believe the other apostles and the women that Jesus appeared to them and had risen from the dead? The longing in his heart to see his Lord was built up day after day. And when Jesus did appear, Thomas was ready for his great act of faith: “My Lord and My God!” The narrative story of Thomas teaches us that God knows the time and the place. He knows when we are ready and when we are not. God, who is patient, gentle, and kind, takes his own time to disclose. When God seems to be absent in our lives, we need to be like Thomas and allow the longing for God to grow within, so that when God appears we may welcome him like Thomas.