Saint Matthew - 21 September

Readings: Ephesians 4.1-7, 11-13; Psalm 8; Matthew 9.9-13

In 2021 the Dominicans celebrated 800 years since the death of Saint Dominic who died on 6 August, the Feast of the Transfiguration, in the year 1221. The theme chosen for this jubilee year was 'At Table with Saint Dominic', taken from the very earliest picture of Dominic, called the 'Mascarella table', a painting on a refectory table made just a few years after Dominic's canonization in 1234. It shows Dominic sitting at table with forty-eight other friars and is quite unique among icons of medieval saints.

The painting lends himself to some helpful interpretations: Dominic is represented not as a saint exalted on a pedestal but as a brother among his brothers, the experience of being 'at table' with others is a rich theme for reflection, and so too is the variety of tables at which we sit with him - the table of fraternity, of the Word, of study, of government, and so on.

To be at table with another is to be on some kind of intimate terms with them, to be part of their circle, invited to join with them and with their family and companions in friendship and communion. It is our normal way of sealing and celebrating friendship, love and marriage, alliances and reunions, conferences and negotiations - to sit together for a meal.

Hence the strong reaction of the Pharisees to the fact of Jesus sitting at table with tax-collectors and sinners. He has just called Matthew, one of those tax-collectors, to become a disciple and he will eventually be one of the four evangelists. In the end he records another kind of transaction and engages in another kind of administration, the economy of salvation as enacted by Jesus and the beginnings of the Church.

To be at table with tax-collectors and sinners is to share intimacy with them. It says to the world 'we belong together', 'we are in relationship', 'there is peace and communion between us'. This is what shocks the Pharisees. Jesus's response to them is well known: it is not the healthy who need the doctor but the sick, what the Father wants is mercy not sacrifice, love and compassion towards human beings whatever their circumstances and not religious observances.

We are all called to sit at table with Jesus, called to the Eucharist. It is the table of God's Word and the table at which we are fed on Christ's Body and Blood. Between us there is intimacy and peace, communion in a shared life. Nobody is worthy of this invitation, of course, and yet the invitation is for everybody.

Paul speaks of this call in the first reading and points us to the heavenly table, the table of the Blessed Trinity, so beautifully represented in the famous icon of the Trinity by Rublev.  The table of the Blessed Trinity is our ultimate destination. We can read the Trinity into the phrases Paul uses - there is one God who is over all, through all and in all, the Father, the Son and the Spirit, working to build the body of Christ in the world, the Church, through the gifts he bestows on those who believe in him.

We sit at this table already when we participate in the Eucharist, the sacrifice of the Son. There he gives his life so that tax-collectors and sinners, and Pharisees too, might grow in their knowledge of God and in their likeness to the one who feeds them, the 'perfect man', Christ. He is the Brother among brothers and sisters, sharing the Father's love with all who join him at his table. Let us join him there today and be strengthened in the call we have received.