Mediator
In another lifetime I worked for a company who not only employed talented and very skilled people but searched for ways to enable people to work together more productively. We were required to take personality evaluations and then we were matched with others who scored similarly. Sounds like it should work, right? It did not because we were so much alike that there was no way to develop concessions and resolve issues.
Then the idea was we needed people from each personality group. Sounds like a good idea, right? It did not work because our personalities got in the way. There were other attempts but, in the end, working in groups determined by psychological evaluations never worked the way the psychiatrists predicted.
Today’s gospel reminds me of these attempts of the past. Matthew worked for the Roman government. Simon the Zealot was against Roman authority, seeking to destroy them even if it meant killing. Yet Jesus brings these two, very different people, into His group. Was it just because it was Jesus that His group worked?
I am sure some of it is. But more importantly they wanted to be with Jesus. It is when people desire something in common can they work together. Jesus is the Mediator. Through Him personal differences can be set aside, and we work for a common goal. To bring the gospel to the world.
May the Lord bless you in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen