25 February, 2023 | Saturday after Ash Wednesday | ( India -- Optional Memoria Bl. Rani Maria, Religious Martyr)

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:  

Levi, a man considered to be a religious outcast, responds totally to the call of Jesus by walking away from his way of living, to follow Jesus. How is this possible? Perhaps it is because Jesus calls Levi’s name with love, forgiveness and complete acceptance. When Levi is called with love, he responds with love. Jesus ‘noticed’ Levi sitting by the customs house. How often do we notice those who are sick and need a doctor. Those who are in need of healing through a kind word rather than judgment; a listening ear; a smile or just some encouragement? Of course, Jesus often talked not only about banquets or receptions or parties – he also about invited  guests who wouldn’t bother to come. But Levi is a kind of ‘model invitee’: when Jesus extended the invitation to be of his company, Levi’s response was instantaneous.

We remember the virtuosity of Bl. Rani Maria, who lived her vocational call to the point of martyrdom. May she intercede for us.

Activity:  

Do I sometimes treat my religious practices as a set of external rules to be kept? What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.