Saturday 21 February
Scripture: Luke 5:27-32
Reflection:
This first Saturday of Lent recalls the example of Levi: he heard the invitation of Jesus to leave all things and follow him; and he acted upon it without reserve, even so far as calling his friends together. Why did he have a feast with them? To say goodbye? Or was it to introduce them to Jesus? Certainly to introduce them to Jesus that’s why the Scribes and Pharisees became so critical.
Jesus healed this man not of any obvious physical ailment, it was a healing that restores relationships with others. It was not only tax gatherers that sat at table with Jesus but others, hence we read that “a great company of tax collectors and others” who sat at table with Jesus. Many were freed from those things which separate people from one another and push them apart, isolate them, make them enemies of each other.
Sitting at table represents the Eucharist. Lent invites us to be restored in our relationships with others and to sit anew at the Table of the Eucharist.
Action:
Isaiah directs us to consider the way we speak to others, talk about others, feed the hungry and comfort those in distress … “then you shall take delight in the Lord” – another reference to enjoying his table company.
Prayer:
O Lord you are good and forgiving, full of mercy to all who call to you. Teach me, O Lord, your way, so that I may walk in your truth. (Responsorial Psalm: 86)
Bishop Edward Risi
Diocese of Keimoes – Upington