January 19, 2019
Saturday, 1st Week in
Ordinary Time 1st
Reading: Heb 4:12-16 Gospel: Mk 2:13–17
When Jesus went out again beside the lake, a crowd came to him and he taught them. As he walked along, he saw a tax collector sitting in his office. This was Levi, the son of Alpheus. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” And Levi got up and followed him.And it so happened that while Jesus was eating in Levi’s house, tax collectors and sinners were sitting with him and his disciples for there were indeed many of them. But there were also teachers of the Law of the Pharisees’ party, among those who followed Jesus, and when they saw him eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why! He eats with tax collectors and sinners!”Jesus heard them and answered, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor, but sick people do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience)
Tax collectors in the time of Jesus remitted a fixed amount to the Roman government for the right to collect customs duties within their Jewish districts. Since they were at liberty to collect any rate for as long as they remitted the fixed amount to Rome, extortion was rampant. People hated them for this and for the fact that they were loyal to the Romans instead of remaining loyal to their own Jewish people. The hatred was so intense that it extended to the whole household of every tax collector.
Despite this Jesus freely visited them and dined with them in their houses. In today’s Gospel, for example, he went to the house of Levi – the tax collector who was at his post when Jesus invited him to become a follower. The visit of Jesus to the house of Levi sent a very ugly message to the Jews. In their culture, sharing a meal with someone also meant sharing his views and his values. But Jesus took the occasion to remind the people of his mission. He said: “Healthy people don’t need a doctor, but sick people do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” The tables were turned against his critics. Since the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees didn’t think they were sinners, they really had no part in the mission of Jesus.
Self-righteousness blocks salvation because salvation is only for sinners who repent. When a person believes he has no need to repent, he loses the chance to respond to Jesus’ salvific call. While not all of us are sinners in the magnitude of the tax collectors of Jesus’ time, none can claim righteousness before God for we are all sinners in need of his mercy. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M. Email: [email protected].
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