Gospel (Mt 9.9-13) - At that time, Jesus saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax counter and said to him: "Follow me". And he got up and followed him. While he was sitting at table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat at table with Jesus and his disciples. Seeing this, the Pharisees said to his disciples: "How come your teacher eats together with tax collectors and sinners?". Hearing this, he said: «It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. Go and learn what it means: “I want mercy and not sacrifices”. In fact, I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

Jesus, while walking, sees Matthew, a publican, a tax collector responsible for collecting taxes for the Romans. For this reason, publicans were considered dishonest and despised men. Jesus approaches and calls him: "Follow me". Matthew, unlike many men who considered themselves religious and pure, immediately gets up from his desk and begins to follow Jesus. From a sinner he was, he becomes an example of following for the disciples of all times. And, with the Gospel that bears his name, he also became a guide for many. We too follow this tax collector and sinner who leads us towards the knowledge and love of the Lord Jesus. Matthew immediately invites Jesus to a banquet. His tax collector friends and even some sinners also flock there. Some Pharisees, scandalized by this scene, say to the disciples: "How come your teacher eats together with tax collectors and sinners?". Jesus intervenes directly in the controversy with a proverb: "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick." For him, in fact, there is never a Manichean division between good and bad, between the righteous and sinners. Jesus only wants to explain what his mission is: he came to help and to heal, to liberate and to save. And he adds a quote taken from the prophet Hosea: "Go and learn what it means: I want mercy and not sacrifices." In the prophet's text (Hos 6:6) the term "sacrifice" refers to cultic practices. For Jesus, it is not the rites that save but the mercy of God. This is why those who feel the need for God to heal their wounds and help them in their sins follow him. And, getting even closer to each of us, Jesus adds: "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners".