Panis Angelicus: Follow Me

MARCH 05, 2022, SATURDAY

Saturday after Ash Wednesday (Violet)

CYCLE C - YEAR II

Lectionary: 222

Reading I

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 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.

Responsorial Psalm

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.

Verse Before the Gospel

Ez 33:11

I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, says the Lord,

but rather in his conversion, that he may live.

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.”

REFLECTION:

Tax-collectors were the most despised of people. But Jesus challenges the prejudices of his day. He calls Levi (St Matthew) and awakens him to his human potential and dignity. Matthew leaves the money-table to sit with Jesus at the banqueting table of forgiveness. Mercy is at the heart of Jesus’ mission.

Where are the Levis in my world? The drug-pushers, paedophiles, wife-batterers, rapists, those who cheat on tax or social welfare, those who are headlined for hatred in the tabloid press. Lord, these are the sick who need you as physician. Can I help you to reach out to them?

In prayer we know our place before God. We know we are needy, all of us in different ways. We need the physician for the weakness and ills of the spirit, as well as needing the doctor for the ills of the body. Jesus can enter our lives only if we know that we deep down really need him - otherwise he would not have come. He looks out always for the space in our personalities which need strength, healing, forgiveness. In prayer let your eyes meet his - and receive the light of strength, healing and forgiveness.

PRAYER:

Lord, your outreach towards sinners consoles me. Forgive me for the times when I am swayed by prejudice, when I judge, despise or exclude others. I want to be at your table no matter who else is there! Grant me the grace to respond to your call – to follow you wherever you lead.

What is "Panis Angelicus"?

It started from a simple spiritual bible verse on which I mostly posted daily in my personal Facebook account, I've seeing myself realizing the idea what if I will post something different to my audiences sharing my spiritual thoughts/insights in life based on my experiences as a former church servant. Indeed, the world of social media nowadays are full of negativity where many people who are "toxic" in terms of sharing ideas and opinions, on which I personally described. Some people have already forgotten the so-called respect and being open-minded in terms of sharing ideas and opinions on each other. It comes to the point that sometimes we didn't know and feel that we're already crossing the lines causing our egos would probably triggered and even tempered due to our different emotions and expressions. For me, there are lots of causes and reasons why all of these are happen in our society today. Maybe it's because the world nowadays are also under the influence of a so-called millennial traits and other social aspects in life on which other people most especially the youth tend to do unnecessary traits that would make to hurt the feelings of others. By this, some people often forget to show RESPECT to their elder ones and even their parents as well. The new generation of youth today is far different from those times of our lolos and lolas. Even in simple greeting (in a normal traditional Filipino custom of Mano Po) showing your respect to your elders are already forgotten to practice by some of our younger ones and even adults of today. Some people often forget to pray and say the Holy Rosary together with your family every night and even go to church on Sundays to attend holy masses, maybe it is because the people of today are also changing their personal aspects and priorities in life due to power, wealth and pride.

So I decided create this blog page entitled, "Panis Angelicus". This name (Latin for "Bread of Angels" or "Angelic Bread") derived from the penultimate strophe of the hymn "Sacris solemniis" written by Saint Thomas Aquinas for the feast of Corpus Christi as part of a complete liturgy of the feast, including prayers for the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours. It is a collection of spiritual reflections/verses taken from the Daily Readings in the Holy Bible. Aside of spiritual reflections/verses, you'll also read some of my different insights/opinions regarding on the different types of issues that happen in our world today and what would be its connection in terms of talking about the spiritual aspects in life.

By this simple cause on which I usually loved to do during my church days to help other people in the community by means of participating on various community outreach programs organized by the former parish church that I've served, I'm eagerly open my hands to help most especially those people who already reject nor forget GOD as the center of their life by means of educating and enlighten their minds not just in spiritual aspects but also in moral aspects of life that in this world, nobody's perfect and permanent. Feel free to comment on my posts or share your own thoughts. I'd love to hear from you.

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