Saturday after Ash Wednesday
Table of the Word: Isaiah 58:9–14; Luke 5:27–32
Theme: Follow Me!
Reflection
The theme above forms the central message of today’s Gospel pericope, which recounts Christ’s encounter with Levi, the tax collector. Although the Evangelist Luke does not explicitly identify him as “Matthew,” Mark refers to him as the son of Alphaeus, while Matthew himself, in his own Gospel account, reveals the true identity of this tax collector as Matthew.
We are told in today’s Gospel reading that when Christ called him, he got up, left everything, and followed Him. In this penitential season, this same call is placed before us through the Church to let go of those things that build walls against our relationship with God and with one another.
The first reading, drawn from the prophecy of Isaiah, directs our attention to those aspects of our lives that keep us on the right path, such as giving alms to the poor and keeping the holy day sacred. These admonitions are accompanied by words of blessing from the Lord:
“Then you will call and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and He will say: Here I am!” (Isaiah 58:9).
My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, this is yet another opportunity for us to give a fitting response to this divine call by letting go of those things that hinder our relationship with God.
Admittedly, due to the pleasure rather than true happiness that we derive from such attachments, it may be difficult to leave them behind. Yet, we must be reminded that there is no crown without the cross. If we truly desire the mercy of God, something must be left behind.
Therefore, as we journey with the Lord during these forty days, let us pray for the grace to give a positive response to this universal call to holiness.
O, that today you would listen to His voice: harden not your hearts.
PEACE BE WITH YOU!*m
Thought for Today
“We can appease God by following the instructions which He Himself has given us: God is satisfied by our deeds; we are cleansed from our sins by the merits of mercy.”
— St. Cyprian of Carthage
Prayer
Look kindly, Lord, we pray, on the devotion of your people, that those who by self-denial are restrained in body may by the fruit of good works be renewed in mind. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lenten Commitment
Identify one habit or attachment today that hinders your relationship with God, and consciously make an effort to let it go.
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