Gospel: Mark
2:13-17
Jesus
went out along the sea. All the crowd came to him and he taught them. As he
passed by, he saw Levi, son of Alphaeus, sitting at the customs post. Jesus
said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed Jesus. While he was at
table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners sat with Jesus and his
disciples; for there were many who followed him. Some scribes who were
Pharisees saw that Jesus was eating with sinners and tax collectors and said to
his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus heard
this and said to them, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the
sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
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Reflection:
Why did Jesus
called Levi to follow Him notwithstanding his notorious reputation as a corrupt
tax collector? This is for the reason that Jesus loves sinners. He walked on
this earth primarily to save the sinners and to call them all to follow Him.
Jesus is pro sinners, He loves sinners, He
favors the sinners, He seeks the sinners and He doesn’t judge and discriminate
the sinners. This is what happened to Levi or Matthew being a sinner Jesus went
to Levi to express to him that He still love him even if he is a sinner.
No matter
how sinful we are, God is continuously calling us to conversion and to follow
Him just like what He has done with Levi. He doesn’t judge us by our sins; He
rather looks at our desire to leave behind us our sinfulness. The moment we
decide to change our sinful ways we can always be assured of His peace and His
abiding presence.
It is
always us who creates detachment from Jesus and not Jesus detaching Himself
from us. This occurs when we commit sins and continuously
ignore Jesus’ call for repentance. Jesus is just a prayer away, ever ready to
embrace us with His love and forgiveness the moment we decide to walk away from
our sinful ways.
When are
you going to respond to Jesus call of repentance? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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