Seventh Sunday after Pentecost. Octoechos Tone 6. The Holy Martyrs Borys and Hlib, Named Roman and David at Holy Baptism (1015); Holy Great-Martyr Christine Polyeleos Feast.
Romans 15:1-7; Romans 8:28-39; Matthew 9:27-35; John 15:17-16:2
Read Romans 15:1-7
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
In the film Jesus of Nazareth, director Franco Zeffirelli made a masterful interpretive decision. Peter, following the direction of Jesus, pulls in a large catch of fish. Matthew the tax collector, hearing of Peter’s windfall, figures this is a good time to hit Peter up for back taxes. He heads over to Peter’s house where people have crowded into the courtyard to listen to Jesus. At the sight of Matthew, Peter needs to be restrained from bodily ejecting him. Jesus, instead, requests the pleasure of dinner at Matthew’s place that evening. Peter is crestfallen. He knows that Jesus and His disciples are walking on the road out of town tomorrow morning, and he doesn’t know how he can do that if he must walk beside Matthew.
Peter and the other disciples go over to Matthew’s Bedouin-style tent later and peak through a crack in the curtains to observe Jesus there. Jesus is telling the parable of the prodigal son. When he gets to the response of the father to the faithful son, Jesus looks past his hosts directly at Peter and says, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours…this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.” Cut to the next morning and Peter and Matthew are walking down the road together with Jesus.
In bringing to conclusion his extended exposition on the unity of Jew and Gentile in the Church, St. Paul makes this same point in today’s reading: each of us does not get our own separate Jesus – there is only one of Him and if we are going to receive His welcome, we will find that we are called to extend it to others as well.