Lent is meant to be a time of repentance.

an awareness that sin separates us from God

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊   

Isaiah 58:9b-14

 Then you will call and Yahweh will answer,

You will cry and he will say, I am here. If you remove from your midst the yoke, the clenched fist and the wicked word,  if you share your food with the hungry and give relief to the oppressed, then your light will rise in the dark, your night will be like noon.

 Yahweh will guide you always and give you relief in desert places. He will strengthen your bones; he will make you as a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters never fail.

 Your ancient ruins will be rebuilt, the age-old foundations will be raised. You will be called the Breach-mender, and the Restorer of ruined houses. If you stop profaning the sabbath and doing as you please on the holy day, if you call the sabbath a day of delight and keep sacred Yahweh’s holy day, if you honor it by not going your own way,

not doing as you please and not speaking with malice,  then you will find happiness in Yahweh, over the heights you will ride triumphantly, and feast joyfully on the inheritance of your father Jacob you. The mouth of Yahweh has spoken.

 

Ps 86:1-2, 3-4, 5-6

Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊      

Luke 5:27-32

  After this Jesus went out, and as he noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax-office, he said to him, “Follow me.”   So Levi, leaving everything, got up and followed Jesus.

 Levi gave a great feast for Jesus, and many tax collectors came to his house and took their place at table with the other people.  Then the Pharisees and their fellow teachers complained to Jesus’ disciples, “How is it that you eat and drink with tax collectors and other sinners?”  

But Jesus spoke up, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor, but sick people do.   I have come to call to repentance; I call sinners, not the righteous.”

 

Gospel Reflection：

We, the Sick

“Healthy people don’t need a doctor, but the sick people do.”Who was Jesus referring to? If the Pharisees thought Jesus was referring to Levi and his crowd as the sick, perhaps they were mistaken.

I guess Jesus was ironically hinting at the Pharisees themselves. For, who was sicker in the scene but the Pharisees themselves? In fact, everyone around Jesus was sick, only the degree differed; hence, everyone was invited to a “change of heart.”

If some of them were sick by carrying the yoke, others were sick in imposing them; if some were wounded by the wicked word, others were sick by pronouncing them; if some went malnourished by the clenched fist that refused to share what it had, others were sicker by reasons of binging.

Blessed are those who confess to being sick and search out for the right doctor of souls, for they shall be healed from inside out.