DAILY GOSPEL Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. John 6:68 Saturday, 08 March 2014 Saturday after Ash Wednesday Saint(s) of the day : St. John of God, religious (1495-1550) See commentary below or click here Julian of Norwich : I have come to call [sinners] to repentance Book of Isaiah 58:9b-14. Thus says the LORD: If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; Then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday; Then the LORD will guide you always and give you plenty even on the parched land. He will renew your strength, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails. The ancient ruins shall be rebuilt for your sake, and the foundations from ages past you shall raise up; Repairer of the breach, they shall call you, Restorer of ruined homesteads. If you hold back your foot on the sabbath from following your own pursuits on my holy day; If you call the sabbath a delight, and the LORDS holy day honorable; If you honor it by not following your ways, seeking your own interests, or speaking with malice-- Then you shall delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob, your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken. Psalms 86(85):1-2.3-4.5-6. Incline your ear, O LORD; answer me, for I am afflicted and poor. Keep my life, for I am devoted to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for to you I call all the day. Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in kindness to all who call upon you. Hearken, O LORD, to my prayer and attend to the sound of my pleading. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 5:27-32. Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, «Follow me.» And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him. Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were at table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying, Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? Jesus said to them in reply, Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners. Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB Commentary of the day : Julian of Norwich (1342-after 1416), recluse Revelations of divine love, ch. 51-52 (trans. copyright Classics of Western spirituality) I have come to call [sinners] to repentance God showed me a lord sitting in state, in rest and peace. The lord sends his servant to a certain place to do his will. Not only does the servant go but he dashes off and runs at great speed, loving to do his lords will. And soon he falls into a dell and is greatly injured... And so in this servant God showed me the blindness and the hurt of Adams falling; and in the servant there was shown the wisdom and the goodness of Gods Son. And in the lord there was shown the compassion and the pity for Adams woe; and in the lord there was shown the great nobility and the endless honour that man has come to, by the power of the Passion and the death of Gods beloved Son. And therefore he greatly rejoices in his falling, for the raising on high and the fulness of bliss which mankind has come to, exceeding what we should have if he had not fallen... And so we have matter for mourning, because our sin is the cause of Christs pains, and we have constantly matter for joy, because endless love made him suffer... And if we through our blindness and our wretchedness at any time fall, then let us quickly rise, knowing the sweet touching of grace, and willingly amend ourselves according to the teaching of Holy Church, as may fit the grievousness of the sin, and go on our way with God in love, and neither on the one side fall too low, inclining to despair, nor on the other side be too reckless, as though we did not care; but let us meekly recognize our weakness, knowing that we cannot stand for the twinkling of an eye except with the protection of grace... So does our good Lord want us willingly to accuse ourselves, and to see truly and know our falling, and all the harms which come from it, seeing and knowing that we can never repair it; and also we willingly and truly see and know the everlasting love which he has for us, and his plentiful mercy. And so by grace to see and know both together is the meek self-accusation which our good Lord asks from us and is his work in our soul.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 03:27:55 +0000