29 February, 2020. Saturday after Ash Wednesday

1st Reading: Isaiah 58:9-14

If they are converted, they are blessed, with waters that never fail

Then you shall call and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help and he will say, “Here I am.” If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your needs in parched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.
If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call the sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honourable; if you honour it, not going your own ways, serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs; then you shall take delight in the Lord and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Responsorial: from Psalm 86

Response: O Lord teach me your way, that I may walk in your truth

Turn your ear, O Lord and give answer
for I am poor and needy.
Preserve my life, for I am faithful:
save the servant who trusts in you.
You are my God, have mercy on me, Lord,
for I cry to you all the day long.
Give joy to your servant, O Lord,
for to you I lift up my soul.
O Lord, you are good and forgiving,
full of love to all who call.
Give heed, O Lord, to my prayer
and attend to the sound of my voice.

Gospel: Luke 5:27-32

The tax collector sits at table with Jesus, who welcomes sinners to him

After this Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up, left everything and followed him.
Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house; and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others sitting at the table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

May your words, O Lord be on my lips and in my heart. May they guide me on life’s journey and keep me near to you.

The Man For Others

The Jesus we follow is one who heartily loves and accepts each individual in their unique personhood, just as our genes and our past experiences have made us. His open acceptance of Levi’s dinner invitation with his friends, which later led to Levi becoming a trusted disciple, is typical of this “Man For Others.” The converted tax collector is not despised as a second-class citizen, simply for the job he did and the company he kept. Although he came late into the Lord’s circle of friends, he made a great contribution to the early church by retelling his memories of Jesus.
How refreshing to hear Christ’s warm welcome of Levi echoed in the words of pope Francis, in his call for the doors of the church to be open wide so that all may enter. Certainly Jesus believes in conversion: but he calls people to it in such a non-judgmental way and awaits their positive response. How fully he would endorse Isaiah’s conviction on this matter: “Then you shall call and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help and he will say, “Here I am.”
Isaiah foreshadows the warm acceptance with which Jesus welcomes all who come to him. It is one of the prophet’s most stirring promises, in God’s own name: “Then you shall call and the Lord will answer ‘Here I am’.” The promise that our God will always be near us, to guide us in our actions and in our acceptance of what we cannot presently change, is a deep source of serenity. Isaiah adds a series of powerful metaphors, to reinforce the message of a caring God. He will make your bones strong; you shall be like a watered garden, like a flowing spring, whose waters never fail. Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt. This is the kind of conviction on which a person of faith can build and which gives full meaning to any good effort we may be making for Lent.
Stern moral critics objected to Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners. In their eyes, eating with tax collectors and sinners risked being contaminated by them. They would keep separate from such people in order to preserve their moral health and their reputation. But Jesus did not share this concern. Rather than being infected by our sins, his goodness, that is, God’s goodness in him, can make us well. He is not diminished by our faults; but we are ennobled by his holiness. Christ does not desert us, even if we let him down by what we do or fail to do. He continues to interact with us, as our motivator and inspiration in life.