SATURDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY
Isaiah 58:9-14
Luke 5:27-32
In today’s first reading from the book of the prophet Isaish, we see Isaiah, addresses the post-exilic community struggling to make a new life in Jerusalem during the 530s and 520s BCE. He talks about the restoration of the people of Israel (Temple and their nation)but that can only happen if the people repent of their sinful ways and live according to the commands of God.
The prophet condemns those who assume that frequent worship and obsequious rituals will persuade God to help them. Such self-involved worship sours and curdles into insincere gestures of pious theater and leads to doom. God’s demands are clear, but our anxious desire to secure our own lives, even when it requires that others suffer, make obedience challenging.
In today’s gospel, the Lord calls Levi to become one of his disciples. Christ hates sin but loves the sinner. he came to calls to repentance those who recognize they are spiritually ill to the degree that they need a physician (5:31), and to raise the consciousness of the self-righteous who think they have no need of repentance.
Are we good Christians only at Church but outside we are wicked people? Do we do good to those who are only close to us? Do Do we seek favor for a favor? Do we judge others through biases? Remember, obstacles are the things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. Our goal as disciples is to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ who calls to Himself.
Fr Joseph Osho
