Feast of Saint Matthew, Apostle and evangelist

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/092111.cfm

Another cake winner

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."


I rank my books in four ways: 

• those I give away; 
• those I lend and don't want back; those I lend and do want back; and 
• those I don't lend. 

One of my never-loans is the Zen master, Shunryu Suzuki's Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind:

"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few."

In the beginner's mind there is no thought, "I have attained something." All self‑centered thoughts limit our vast mind. When we have no thought of achievement, no thought of self, we are true beginners. Then we can really learn something. The beginner's mind is the mind of compassion. When our mind is compassionate, it is boundless. Dogen‑zenji, the founder of our school, always emphasized how important it is to resume our boundless original mind. Then we are always true to ourselves, in sympathy with all beings, and can actually practice.So the most difficult thing is always to keep your beginner's mind. There is no need to have a deep understanding of Zen. Even though you read much Zen literature, you must read each sentence with a fresh mind. You should not say, "I know what Zen is," or "I have attained enlightenment." This is also the real secret of the arts: always be a beginner. (from the prologue)

I see a similarity between the "righteous" of whom Jesus speaks and Suzuki's "expert," who has only two or three ideas. The expert has a firm grasp of his ideas; he owns them. But he doesn't realize they own him. 


Jesus clearly preferred the company of "tax collectors and sinners." These were the unredeemed, the unwashed, the illiterate who lived beyond the pale of the self-assured righteous. They flocked to him, carrying their sick, possessed, blind, lame and leprous -- all the untouchable masses of pathetic humanity whom the Pharisees avoided. The poor had no strong opinions about holiness or correctness. They couldn't tell a doctrine from a docquet. But they knew Jesus had authority to heal and forgive and they rushed to him. 


So must we rush to Jesus. As we approach him we're likely to find ourselves swept up in a flood of humanity, and swept away from all the self-assured, credentialed, opinionated authorities who occasionally bestow social standing upon us. Our cool rationality might be overwhelmed by warm gratitude and blazing admiration for God's Goodness. 
Finally, the wretched of the earth will lead us to Jesus who will ask for nothing more than our entire lives.