Jesus Calls Levi And Eats With Sinners

FEBRUARY 25, 2023 SATURDAY
Saturday after Ash Wednesday (Violet)
CYCLE A - YEAR I
Lectionary: 222

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 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
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.

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."

GOSPEL 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.