Isaiah 58: 9b-14;
Luke 5:27-32
Table of Sin
to
Table of
forgiveness and Redemption (Eucharist=the Presence of Jesus)
Dear friends in Christ, The gospel
presents to us the
call of Levi and
his response to that call.
He got up, left everything, and followed him. When he heard “follow me”, immediately
got up, he was ready to move and obey Jesus and left everything, his identity,
financial security, his job, his sinful life, his present situation everything
at once and followed Jesus , he was ready to change his life style because
following Jesus involves a change of lifestyle (walking away from unwanted life
styles, habits, people) involves
commitment and sacrifice. There will be change of name, work, direction and he
is ready to move forward with Jesus ( taking up his cross) and sits with Jesus
at the banquet table of Jesus forgiveness, embracing a new lifestyle.
Levi, Later called Mathew, got up/moved from a table of
Sin, which was leading him to bondages, destruction to a TABLE OF FORGIVENESS/JOY, rebuilding his life.
The call of Levi reminds us that there
are plenty of spiritual rewards and
benefits for following the path of the Lord.
We find the blessing in the first reading especially Is 58:11-12 explains what it means to follow God and be with him:Then the LORD will guide you always and give you plenty even on the parched land. He will renew your strength, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails. The ancient ruins shall be rebuilt for your sake, and the foundations for ages past you shall raise up; ""Repairer of the breach,"" they shall call you, ""Restorer of ruined homesteads."
There are more blessings however From the
first reading and Gospel we can reflect at least Three blessings:
- He
Sustains : the Lord sustains and nurtures us by leading, satisfying and
strengthening. The people who
experience that there is no one for them, experience a kind of dryness in their souls and
wearied from all the tensions and worries of this world, the lord promises
them sustenance. (Psalm 55:22
and Isaiah 46:3-5) and he sustains us by providing us with the
necessities, rest in his care, gives us peace to calm our disturbed souls.
In verse 11 we find that the Lord leads, satisfies and strengthens.
●
He
leads us on the right path, gathers our wandering
souls and guides us to tread on his path which leads to salvation. There are
many ways that he can lead us, like scripture, prayer, circumstances, our
conscience. (Psalm 37:33, Ezek 36:26-27)
The
story of leading Moses for His purpose, a great example in this respect.
●
He
satisfies our craving souls. We all know that the
world craves for more and more, never being satisfied with what one holds, be
it status, fame, a job, home, things, people, money and various other
fascinating things and it's restless to accumulate one after the other. Well,
it appears that there is no diagnosis for the spiritual illness. But take a
moment, pause for a while, turn to the Lord, try craving for the Lord, it
changes everything. That’s why St.Augustine states “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless
until it rests in you.” His personality changes everything we are looking
for now. Psalm 16:11 states In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your
right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11)
and Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not
hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35.)
He
includes us all in his love, considers us valuable and unique, there is no
discrimination and disregard in him, that’s why he died for all. He satisfies
us with his words, physically, psychological and spiritual. The gospel of the
is great example, He satisfied the spiritual hunger of Levi and his friends in
the banquet.
● He strengthens us , we experience a lot of stress, pressures from responsibilities, challenges and due this many are on the brink of losing hope but when we turn to him in our weakness, anxieties and he strengthens us physically, psychologically. St. Paul says I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.(Phil. 4:13) he strengthens us with his grace, presence,love, protection and power. We are supposed to entrust to him when we face situations we don't understand, when we encounter difficulties, hurdles in our way and painful situations and unexpected things, but we usually lose sight of God who strengthens us and turn to other sources for strength. "Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might!" (Eph. 6:10). God is with us here to comfort and strengthen.
- He Restores us :
The verse 11 signifies that the Lord
wants to rebuild, restore and repair the broken walls. It is not just the walls
in fact he wants to rebuild/restore/repair the broken people and communities.
The people were only observing the religious activities, keeping the fast only
superficially and they are just presenting themselves as good, devoted people
but in fact in their hearts they are far from goodness. They are broken in
their hearts.
a loving and merciful God who cares for
his people wishes to rebuild them through his forgiveness and unconditional
love.
He wants to restore people who are lost;
He heals the broken hearted and rebuild the broken relationship with him and
with another.
That’s the Church/People is called the
repairer, restorer and rebuilder of the broken after the example of the Lord.
He restores my soul. He leads me in paths
of righteousness for his name's sake (Psalm 23:3).The
Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18).
Ezekiel
36:26 it is stated that he gives a new heart and new spirit. He restores us
because we are still the family, he awaits for us like the Father in the story
of Prodigal son.
- He Redeems us:
The lord sustains, and restores and
finally he leads to redemption. To redeem is to buy back what was sold or given
away. Because of original sin and our at present personal sins we have been
wandering away from him, sold our hearts, minds and souls to evil activities,
inordinate pleasures, we have become slaves to our own creation (technology,
things pleasing to the eyes). But Jesus freed and redeemed us. He bought us
with his blood. Thus he transformed completely us in his grace from all the
destructive bondages to His constructive nature and grace. He imparted us with
his grace.
The
story of Joseph in the Old Testament, the Lord sustained when he was sold, he
was in a dry state and restored his status in a foreign land through his gift
of interpretation and he was redeemed from all the destructive occasions of
Sin. later God made him the redeemer of his family, for his brothers.
Pharisees
thought sitting with them diminishes their status, they become defiled because
they are sinners but Jesus taught differently, by offering his banquet table he
is not defiled instead they are transformed. The Pharisees saw in them as sinners but Jesus saw a potential to be a
disciple, an opportunity to share his love, an opportunity to rebuild his life.
Our presence does not affect his holiness rather in return it leads us to
Holiness. The Lord always desires to sit with us, to share table with us, to
enter into communion with us, in order that in our weakness we might draw from
his strength, and in our many failings we might draw from his goodness and
love.
Jesus
responds in the Gospel “I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but
sinners.” . His mission is clear, it’s to reach out to sinners ( which includes
all of us) and lead them to redemption. There is no discrimination in this
regard, he came for us the sick and sinners who are in need of a healer and
saviour. He called Levi and is calling us today to his spiritual benefits. He
is inviting us today from our table of sin (whatever is causing us to sin) to a
table banquet of forgiveness, especially the Eucharist.
Isaiah
says in verse 11, You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. We
lack nothing in God when we are with him. The eucharistic table bestows all
these spiritual blessings. The presence of Jesus brought joy to Levi and his
family, in return he invited his friends to Jesus, became an apostle there
itself. He shared the joy, he shared the presence of Jesus. With the presence
of Jesus, he and his friends were like a well -watered garden. Let us remember
therefore,
The Eucharist is a table of Joy - Levi and his friends
experience in the presence of Jesus;The The Eucharist is a table of acceptance
- No discrimination , all are invited
The Eucharist is a table of Forgiveness - our sins are
forgiven in his presence.
The Eucharist is a table of communion - with God and with
others.
The Eucharist is a table of recharge - restores power in us
కామెంట్లు లేవు:
కామెంట్ను పోస్ట్ చేయండి