THIS is the lesson we can draw from that gospel episode where some Pharisees told Christ’s discipl3es: “Why does your master eat with publicans and sinners?” (Mt 9,11)
To which Christ responded: “They who are healthy need not a physician, but they who are ill.” He then proceeded to say: “I have not come to call the just, but sinners.” (Mt 9,13)
If we truly have the mind and heart of Christ, then we should be eager to look after those who are lost, far away from the true faith, or even those who consider themselves non-believers and open enemies of God.
Again, this is a tall order, but we can always do something about it. We should just develop the appropriate knowledge and virtues to capture that spirit of Christ who like the Good Shepherd will always look for the lost sheep.
When we actually do not go all the way in our effort to identify ourselves with Christ as completely as possible, we would end up like those Pharisees of old who were openly self-righteous and quick to judge others based only on some human and worldly standards or criteria.
We have to remember that God, as Christ told us clearly, cares for everyone of us. He does not make distinction of persons insofar as loving is concerned. His love is universal. It covers all.
This is the thought that should be with us everytime we see the differences and the great variety of conditions we have among ourselves. Yes, we have to acknowledge our differences, our advantages and disadvantages, etc., but we should not forget that God loves all of us and that we too should love everybody else the way God loves all.
Let us remind ourselves that our differences are meant to develop, if not enrich, everyone through the dynamics of complementation and supplementation. Let’s see to it that we are not unduly entangled with the unavoidable tension and conflict, and that we manage to go past them and see the bigger picture.
What is incumbent on us is to give what we have, what has been entrusted to us by God—our talents and other gifts—as much as we could for the common good. This is where our true joy and self-fulfillment can be found. It’s in giving that we truly love, and that we truly get blessed.
We have to develop this kind of love that would urge us to look after the lost sheep. Do we know, for example how to deal with an unbeliever, an atheist or agnostic? Or a smart alecky fellow who actually has great potentials to help but is oblivious of his duty to be concerned with the lives of others?
We have to be wary of the subtle temptation to classify people without knowing how to put them together in one communion as we all ought to be, with God as the principle, end, pattern and power for that communion.
Everyone should be concerned for the common good, both temporal and eternal, material and spiritual, and should know how to work together in solidarity and subsidiarity.
We should be wary of things that would stir up our emotions and feelings such that we follow the playbooks of those ideologies that are already detached or even opposed to our faith and true charity. In this, we have to help one another.
