Reading: Saturday, 08 March 2014 Reading 1: IS 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 LORD’s holy day honourable; If you honour 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. Responsorial Psalm: PS 86:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 R. (11ab) Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth. 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. R. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth. 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. R. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth. 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. R. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth. Gospel: LK 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.” Meditation: Luke 5:27-32 Follow me. (Luke 5:27) As a government employee, Levi probably had a very comfortable life. But then he heard Jesus, and his heart was stirred so powerfully that he was willing to part with his old life and become a follower of this traveling preacher from Nazareth. You might think that this would be the perfect way to end the story: hardened tax collector embraces a kinder, simpler life. But Levi encountered a new wrinkle when some Pharisees disrupt the special dinner that he gave in Jesus’ honour. They objected to Jesus spending time with Levi’s sordid group of friends. Shouldn’t a spiritual leader avoid the sinful so as not to risk contamination? Then, as if to add insult to injury, Jesus agrees with the Pharisees by likening Levi and his friends to the “sick” in need of a physician. That’s right—sick! How would you respond if everyone were talking about you like this? Wouldn’t you get just a bit defensive? You can imagine Levi—whom we also know as St. Matthew—responding, “Wait a minute! It’s not like I’m the walking plague! If Jesus wants to spend time with me and my friends, that’s his business.” But that’s not how Levi reacted. The fact that he stayed with Jesus and became one of his twelve apostles is a testament to his humility and his dedication. In a wide-ranging interview last September, Pope Francis likened the Church to a “field hospital” for the faithful—not just for those who don’t believe but for all of us. It’s hard to think of ourselves as being sick and needing help. But that’s what the season of Lent—that’s what the cross—is all about. As St. Paul wrote, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of these I am the foremost” (1 Timothy 1:15). If we can bring ourselves to echo Paul’s words, if we can find the humility and dedication of Levi, we’ll end up finding the same joy, peace, and freedom that they both discovered. And our Easter celebration will become that much sweeter! “Lord, there are so many ways that I try to say I don’t need you, but you know what is truly in my heart. Lord, I do need you. Come with the medicine of your mercy so that I can know your grace and presence!” Isaiah 58:9-14; Psalm 86:1-6 Courtesy: USCCB & WAU
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 09:21:42 +0000
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