And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax-collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax-collectors and sinners?’ But when he heard this, he said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.’
Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘The wedding-guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.’ Matthew 9:9-17
Mercy not Sacrifice
There is too much need and hurt
for us to burden the poorest more
there is plenty of food and hunger
for us to turn the broken away.
Our lives are tenuous at best
every day a gift and a challenge
every mistake is written on our hearts
choose to celebrate the light of love.
The puddles are deep and the pitfalls many
every course we undertake can fail
we might fall when we are dancing
dance we must while the love abides.
Forgiveness comes as the price of humility
healing comes when we can ask for help
love comes round when we open our hearts
and the Divine stays with us in all our trials.
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