Saturday after Ash Wednesday
Lectionary: 222
Lectionary: 222
Thus says the LORD:
If you remove from your midst oppression,
false accusation and malicious speech;
If you bestow your bread on the hungry
and satisfy the afflicted;
Then light shall rise for you in the darkness,
and the gloom shall become for you like midday;
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 from ages past you shall raise up;
"Repairer of the breach," they shall call you,
"Restorer of ruined homesteads."
If you hold back your foot on the sabbath
from following your own pursuits on my holy day;
If you call the sabbath a delight,
and the LORD's holy day honorable;
If you honor it by not following your ways,
seeking your own interests, or speaking with maliceB
Then you shall delight in the LORD,
and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob, your father,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
If you remove from your midst oppression,
false accusation and malicious speech;
If you bestow your bread on the hungry
and satisfy the afflicted;
Then light shall rise for you in the darkness,
and the gloom shall become for you like midday;
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 from ages past you shall raise up;
"Repairer of the breach," they shall call you,
"Restorer of ruined homesteads."
If you hold back your foot on the sabbath
from following your own pursuits on my holy day;
If you call the sabbath a delight,
and the LORD's holy day honorable;
If you honor it by not following your ways,
seeking your own interests, or speaking with maliceB
Then you shall delight in the LORD,
and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob, your father,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Responsorial
PsalmPS 86:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
R. (11ab) Teach
me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.
Incline your ear, O LORD; answer me,
for I am afflicted and poor.
Keep my life, for I am devoted to you;
save your servant who trusts in you.
You are my God.
R. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.
Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for to you I call all the day.
Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
R. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in kindness to all who call upon you.
Hearken, O LORD, to my prayer
and attend to the sound of my pleading.
R. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.
Incline your ear, O LORD; answer me,
for I am afflicted and poor.
Keep my life, for I am devoted to you;
save your servant who trusts in you.
You are my God.
R. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.
Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for to you I call all the day.
Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
R. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in kindness to all who call upon you.
Hearken, O LORD, to my prayer
and attend to the sound of my pleading.
R. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.
Verse Before
The GospelEZ 33:11
I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, says the Lord,
but rather in his conversion, that he may live.
but rather in his conversion, that he may live.
GospelLK 5:27-32
Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post.
He said to him, "Follow me."
And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him.
Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house,
and a large crowd of tax collectors
and others were at table with them.
The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying,
"Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"
Jesus said to them in reply,
"Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do.
I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners."
He said to him, "Follow me."
And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him.
Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house,
and a large crowd of tax collectors
and others were at table with them.
The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying,
"Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"
Jesus said to them in reply,
"Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do.
I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners."
Meditation: Jesus calls sinners to follow
him
When your neighbor stumbles through sin or ignorance,
do you point the finger to criticize or do you lend a helping hand to lift him
or her up? The prophet Isaiah tells us that God repays each in kind. When we
bless others, especially those who need spiritual as well as physical and
material help, God in turn blesses us.
Who do you point the finger at?
When Jesus called a despised tax collector to be his disciple he surprised everyone including Levi (also known as Matthew). The religious leaders were especially upset with Jesus' behavior towards public sinners like Levi. The Jewish people were roughly divided into two groups: the orthodox Jews who rigidly kept the law and all its petty regulations, and the rest who didn't keep all the minute regulations. The orthodox treated the latter like second class citizens. They scrupulously avoided their company, refused to do business with them, refused to give or receive anything from them, refused to intermarry, and avoided any form of friendship with them, including table fellowship. Jesus' association with the latter, especially with tax collectors and public sinners, shocked the sensibilities of these orthodox Jews.
When Jesus called a despised tax collector to be his disciple he surprised everyone including Levi (also known as Matthew). The religious leaders were especially upset with Jesus' behavior towards public sinners like Levi. The Jewish people were roughly divided into two groups: the orthodox Jews who rigidly kept the law and all its petty regulations, and the rest who didn't keep all the minute regulations. The orthodox treated the latter like second class citizens. They scrupulously avoided their company, refused to do business with them, refused to give or receive anything from them, refused to intermarry, and avoided any form of friendship with them, including table fellowship. Jesus' association with the latter, especially with tax collectors and public sinners, shocked the sensibilities of these orthodox Jews.
A true physician of body, mind, and soul
When the Pharisees challenged Jesus unorthodox behavior in eating with public sinners, Jesus' defense was quite simple. A doctor doesn't need to treat healthy people - instead he goes to those who are sick. Jesus likewise sought out those in the greatest need. A true physician seeks healing of the whole person - body, mind, and spirit. Jesus came as the divine physician and good shepherd to care for his people and to restore them to wholeness of life.
When the Pharisees challenged Jesus unorthodox behavior in eating with public sinners, Jesus' defense was quite simple. A doctor doesn't need to treat healthy people - instead he goes to those who are sick. Jesus likewise sought out those in the greatest need. A true physician seeks healing of the whole person - body, mind, and spirit. Jesus came as the divine physician and good shepherd to care for his people and to restore them to wholeness of life.
The orthodox were so preoccupied with their own
practice of religion that they neglected to help the very people who needed the
greatest care. Their religion was selfish because they didn't want to have
anything to do with people not like themselves. Jesus stated his mission in
unequivocal terms: I came not to call the righteous, but to call
sinners. Ironically the orthodox were as needy as those they despised. All
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Do you
thank the Lord for the great mercy he has shown to you? And do you seek the
good of all your neighbors and show them mercy and kindness?
Leave all and follow Christ
What does it mean to "leave all and follow the Lord"? Bede the Venerable (673-735 AD), an Anglo-Saxon monk who wrote numerous commentaries on the Scriptures, explains what it meant for Matthew and for us to "follow" as disciples of the Lord Jesus:
What does it mean to "leave all and follow the Lord"? Bede the Venerable (673-735 AD), an Anglo-Saxon monk who wrote numerous commentaries on the Scriptures, explains what it meant for Matthew and for us to "follow" as disciples of the Lord Jesus:
"By 'follow' he meant not so much the
movement of feet as of the heart, the carrying out of a way of life. For one
who says that he lives in Christ ought himself to walk just as he walked, not
to aim at earthly things, not to pursue perishable gains, but to flee base
praise, to embrace willingly the contempt of all that is worldly for the sake
of heavenly glory, to do good to all, to inflict injuries upon no one in
bitterness, to suffer patiently those injuries that come to oneself, to ask
God’s forgiveness for those who oppress, never to seek one's own glory but
always God's, and to uphold whatever helps one love heavenly things. This is
what is meant by following Christ. In this way, disregarding earthly gains,
Matthew attached himself to the band of followers of One who had no riches. For
the Lord himself, who outwardly called Matthew by a word, inwardly bestowed
upon him the gift of an invisible impulse so that he was able to follow."
Are you ready to forsake
all for the Lord Jesus Christ?
"Lord Jesus, our Savior, let us now come to you:
Our hearts are cold; Lord, warm them with your selfless love. Our hearts are
sinful; cleanse them with your precious blood. Our hearts are weak; strengthen
them with your joyous Spirit. Our hearts are empty; fill them with your divine
presence. Lord Jesus, our hearts are yours; possess them always and only for
yourself." (Prayer of Augustine,
354-430)
A Daily Quote for Lent: Our All-powerful Physician, by Augustine
of Hippo, 354-430 AD
"Our wound is serious, but the Physician is
all-powerful. Does it seem to you so small a mercy that, while you were living
in evil and sinning, he did not take away your life, but brought you to belief
and forgave your sins? What I suffer is serious, but I trust the Almighty. I
would despair of my mortal wound if I had not found so great a Physician."
(excerpt from Sermon 352, 3)
SATURDAY,
MARCH 4, LUKE 5:27-32
Saturday after Ash Wednesday
(Isaiah 58:9b-14; Psalm 86)
KEY VERSE: "I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners" (v 32).
TO KNOW: Jews regarded tax collectors as sinners because they were suspected of exacting more than their due from their own people. Moreover, they were viewed as traitors because they worked for the occupying Roman government. Jesus accepted people as they were, and he invited a tax collector named Levi ("Matthew" in Mt 9:9) to leave his post and follow him as a disciple. In gratitude, Levi gave a banquet in Jesus' honor and invited a large number of people who were considered public sinners. When the religious leaders criticized Jesus because of his table fellowship with so called "sinners," he told them that he had not come for those who self-righteously believed they had no need for repentance, but for those who recognized their need to change their lives.
TO LOVE: Lord Jesus, help me to examine my faults, which I need to overcome this Lent.
TO SERVE: Where do I need conversion in my life?
Saturday after Ash Wednesday
(Isaiah 58:9b-14; Psalm 86)
KEY VERSE: "I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners" (v 32).
TO KNOW: Jews regarded tax collectors as sinners because they were suspected of exacting more than their due from their own people. Moreover, they were viewed as traitors because they worked for the occupying Roman government. Jesus accepted people as they were, and he invited a tax collector named Levi ("Matthew" in Mt 9:9) to leave his post and follow him as a disciple. In gratitude, Levi gave a banquet in Jesus' honor and invited a large number of people who were considered public sinners. When the religious leaders criticized Jesus because of his table fellowship with so called "sinners," he told them that he had not come for those who self-righteously believed they had no need for repentance, but for those who recognized their need to change their lives.
TO LOVE: Lord Jesus, help me to examine my faults, which I need to overcome this Lent.
TO SERVE: Where do I need conversion in my life?
Optional Memorial of Saint Casimir
Casimir was a Fifteenth Century Polish prince and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Third in line for the throne, he lived a highly disciplined life, spending a great part of the night in prayer, and dedicating himself to lifelong celibacy. He had a great devotion to Mary, supported the poor, and lived a virtuous life amid the dissolute court. His father sent Casimir as head of an army to take over the throne of Hungary at the request of some nobles there. Casimir obeyed, even though he felt disobedient to his Heavenly Father. Casimir’s army was outnumbered, and his troops deserted because they were not paid. Casimir returned home, and was a conscientious objector from that time on. He returned to prayer and study, and maintained his decision to remain celibate even under pressure to marry the emperor's daughter. He died in 1484 in Lithuania of tuberculosis.
Casimir was a Fifteenth Century Polish prince and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Third in line for the throne, he lived a highly disciplined life, spending a great part of the night in prayer, and dedicating himself to lifelong celibacy. He had a great devotion to Mary, supported the poor, and lived a virtuous life amid the dissolute court. His father sent Casimir as head of an army to take over the throne of Hungary at the request of some nobles there. Casimir obeyed, even though he felt disobedient to his Heavenly Father. Casimir’s army was outnumbered, and his troops deserted because they were not paid. Casimir returned home, and was a conscientious objector from that time on. He returned to prayer and study, and maintained his decision to remain celibate even under pressure to marry the emperor's daughter. He died in 1484 in Lithuania of tuberculosis.
Saturday 4 March 2017
Sat 4th. St Casimir.
Is 58:9b-14; Lk 5:27-32
In this special Lenten series – Darkness to
light: An intimate journey with Jesus – our guest writer
looks to the Gospel stories for answers to the questions that many of us ask
when faced with difficult times.
'It is not those who are well who need the
doctor, but the sick.'
My beloved is desperately sick, barely
able to talk, with only a few weeks to live. I see a faint smile, feel a
squeeze of my hand. I am helpless with grief.
I fall more deeply into love and equally deeply into sorrow. Are love and suffering joined together? From birth to death? Are our lives so provisional, so inconsequential? My possessions, my achievements, my history, and all the other trivialities I worry about are worth nothing now.
These things are my sickness, the things that fragment my life, the things that hold me back from being more loving. Yes, my beloved is physically sick, but I am entering a deeper communion of love. The entire world is dying. Holy one, loving one, draw me into your communion of love.
I fall more deeply into love and equally deeply into sorrow. Are love and suffering joined together? From birth to death? Are our lives so provisional, so inconsequential? My possessions, my achievements, my history, and all the other trivialities I worry about are worth nothing now.
These things are my sickness, the things that fragment my life, the things that hold me back from being more loving. Yes, my beloved is physically sick, but I am entering a deeper communion of love. The entire world is dying. Holy one, loving one, draw me into your communion of love.
ST. CASIMIR OF POLAND
On March 4, the Catholic Church honors Saint Casimir Jagiellon, a
prince whose life of service to God has made him a patron saint of Poland,
Lithuania, and young people.
In 1984, Pope John Paul II addressed Lithuanian pilgrims
commemorating the 500th anniversary of the prince's death. He said the Church
“proclaimed Casimir a saint and placed him before us not only to be venerated
but also that we might imitate his heroic virtues and follow his example of
holiness.”
“His witness of great faith and fervent piety continues to have
special meaning for us today,” the Pope said, noting especially the
“challenging call” he offers to young people.
“His life of purity and prayer beckons you to practice your faith
with courage and zeal, to reject the deceptive attractions of modern permissive
society, and to live your convictions with fearless confidence and joy.”
Casimir Jagiellon was born in 1458, the third of thirteen children
born to Poland's King Casimir IV and his wife Elizabeth of Austria. He and
several of his brothers studied with the priest and historian John Dlugosz,
whose deep piety and political expertise influenced Casimir in his upbringing.
The young prince had a distaste for the luxury of courtly life,
and instead chose the way of asceticism and devotion. He wore plain clothes
with a hair shirt beneath them, slept frequently on the ground, and would spend
much of the night in prayer and meditation on the suffering and death of
Christ.
Casimir showed his love for God through these exercises of
devotion, and also through his material charity to the poor. He was known as a
deeply compassionate young man who felt others' pains acutely.
The young prince was only 13 years old when his father was asked
by the Hungarians to offer his son as their new king. Casimir was eager to aid
the Hungarians in their defense against the Turks, and went to be crowned. This
plan was unsuccessful, however, and he was forced to return to Poland.
After his return Casimir resumed his studies with Dlugosz, while
developing a canny grasp of politics by observing his father's rule. In 1479
the king left Poland to attend to state business in Lithuania, leaving Prince
Casimir in charge of the realm between 1481 and 1483.
Advisers to the prince joined his father in trying to convince
Casimir to marry. But he preferred to remain single, focusing his life on the
service of God and the good of his people.
After experiencing symptoms of tuberculosis, Casimir foresaw his
death and prepared for it by deepening his devotion to God. He died en route to
Lithuania on March 4, 1484, and was buried with a copy of a Marian hymn he
frequently recited. Pope Adrian VI canonized him in 1522.
Five centuries after his death, Pope John Paul II recalled how St.
Casimir “embraced a life of celibacy, submitted himself humbly to God’s will in
all things, devoted himself with tender love to the Blessed Virgin Mary and
developed a fervent practice of adoring Christ present in the Blessed
Sacrament.”
“To all,” the Pope said, “he was a shining example of poverty and
of sacrificial love for the poor and needy.”
LECTIO DIVINA: LUKE
5,27-32
Lectio Divina:
Saturday, March 4, 2017
Lent Time
1) OPENING PRAYER
Lord our God, merciful Father,
when you call us to repentance,
you want us to turn to people
and to build up peace and justice among us all.According to your promise,
let us become, with your strength,
lights for those in darkness,
water for those who thirst,
rebuilders of hope and happiness for all.
May we thus become living signs
of your love and loyalty,
for you are our God for ever.
when you call us to repentance,
you want us to turn to people
and to build up peace and justice among us all.According to your promise,
let us become, with your strength,
lights for those in darkness,
water for those who thirst,
rebuilders of hope and happiness for all.
May we thus become living signs
of your love and loyalty,
for you are our God for ever.
2) GOSPEL READING - LUKE 5,
27-32
When he went out after this, he noticed
a tax collector, Levi by name, sitting at the tax office, and said to him, 'Follow
me.' And leaving everything Levi got up and followed him.
In his honour Levi held a great
reception in his house, and with them at table was a large gathering of tax
collectors and others.
The Pharisees and their scribes
complained to his disciples and said, 'Why do you eat and drink with tax
collectors and sinners?'
Jesus said to them in reply, 'It is not
those that are well who need the doctor, but the sick. I have come to call not
the upright but sinners to repentance.'
3) REFLECTION
• Today’s Gospel presents the same theme
on which we reflected in January in the Gospel of Mark (Mk 2, 13-17). But, this
time it is only the Gospel of Luke which speaks and the text is much shorter,
concentrating its attention on the principal supper which is the call and
conversion of Levi and what the conversion implies for us who are entering into
the time of Lent.
• Jesus calls a sinner to be his
disciple. Jesus calls Levi, a tax collector, and he, immediately, left
everything, follows Jesus and begins to form part of the group of the
disciples. Immediately, Luke says that Levi had prepared a great banquet in his
house. In the Gospel of Mark, it seemed that the banquet was in Jesus’ house.
What is important here is the insistence on communion of Jesus with sinners, around
the table, which was a forbidden thing.
• Jesus did not come for the just, but
for sinners. The gesture of Jesus causes great anger among the religious
authority. It was forbidden to sit at table with tax collectors and sinners,
because to sit at table with someone meant to treat him, consider him as a
brother! With his way of doing things, Jesus was accepting the excluded and was
treating them as brothers of the same family of God. Instead of speaking
directly with Jesus, the Scribes of the Pharisees speak with the disciples: Why
do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? And Jesus answers: It is
not those that are well who need the doctor; I have come to call not the
upright, but sinners to repentance!” The consciousness of his mission helps
Jesus to find the response and to indicate the way for the announcement of the
Good News of God. He has come to unite the dispersed people, to reintegrate
those who are excluded, to reveal that God is not a severe judge who condemns
and expels, but rather he is Father/Mother who accepts and embraces.
4) PERSONAL QUESTIONS
• Jesus accepts and includes the
persons. Which is my attitude?
• Jesus’ gesture reveals the experience
that he has of God the Father. Which is the image of God which I bear and
express to others through my behaviour?
5) CONCLUDING PRAYER
Listen to me, Yahweh, answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
Guard me, for I am faithful,
save your servant who relies on you. (Ps 861-2)
for I am poor and needy.
Guard me, for I am faithful,
save your servant who relies on you. (Ps 861-2)
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