Experience the fullness of the Christian Faith

Matthew 9:9-13

Home
>>
Matthew 9:9-13

Matthew 9:9–13

9As Jesus was passing by from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax collection office. Jesus said to him, “Follow me,” and the man got up and began to follow him. 10It so happened that as Jesus was sitting in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came [in] and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

12When Jesus heard it, he told them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick do. 13But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” 


You will hear this Gospel read at The Good Shepherd Orthodox Church during Holy Week, on Great and Holy Wednesday. It is the final reading in the cycle that began with James 5:10-16.

Details

The Good Shepherd Orthodox Church, located in Clayton, Melbourne, is a living witness to the power of the Gospel and the fullness of the Christian Faith in modern, secular Australia. 

About us. We are a vibrant Australian Christian community under the direction of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia, New Zealand & the Philippines, which is under the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East. The Church of Antioch is the continuation of the Christian community founded in Antioch by the Apostles Peter (who served as its first bishop) and Paul. The Patriarchate of Antioch is the oldest of the ancient Patriarchates constituting the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ.

All services are in the English language and the Service of Holy Unction is held in the Main Chapel of the Religious Centre at Monash University, Clayton Campus, conveniently located in the centre of Melbourne’s residential population.

Parking in the University car parks is free after 7:00 pm, but please take note of all signs regarding Loading Zones, No Standing and Disabled Parking, these restrictions apply and are enforced.

For directions to the Religious Centre click here 

Blog

The Wedding Garment: Making the Most of What Christ Offers
Sdn Tim Grace
Sdn Tim Grace
September 6, 2026 10:00 AM
Preaching on Father's Day, Sub Dn. Timothy Grace takes up the parable of the wedding feast and the guest without a garment. In the ancient world the host supplied the garments, so to arrive without one was not poverty but insult — and Christ, the great host, has supplied us with everything we need. Drawing on St. Symeon the New Theologian's call to run to the light while it still shines, he asks what excuse any of us will offer for not becoming holy. He closes with a word to fathers on steering between indifference and control, and on St. Paul as a model of invested, un-domineering fatherhood.
Tenants in the Vineyard: Saved by Grace, Made to Love
Fr. Geoff Harvey
Fr. Geoff Harvey
August 30, 2026 10:00 AM
Preaching on the parable of the wicked tenants, Fr. Geoff Harvey holds together two truths that can seem to pull against each other: we are saved by grace and not by works, yet a faith that bears no love has no life in it. The tenants' great failure did not begin with murder but with forgetting whose vineyard it was. Fr. Geoff offers three simple charges — stand firm in the faith, serve one another in love, and show love to the Lord — and points us to the stone the builders rejected, who has become the cornerstone of our salvation.
More...
Get involved by visiting our Facebook Page
Follow us on X.
Follow us on Instagram
@TheGoodShepherdOrthodoxChurch
Sign up to receive a regular email newsletter from Fr. Geoff.