By Fr. Raymond J. de Souza, The Catholic Thing - Jesus taught, in part, by the company he kept... “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” the Pharisees asked the apostles. (Matthew 9:11)... Jesus kept company with those who scandalized others and made clear the nature of the scandal. Not the scandal of approving sinful behavior, as the Pharisees thought, but the scandal of God’s mercy: that forgiveness was available to the contrite as was the offer of salvation to even great sinners who obeyed His command, “Go and sin no more.”