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| “The Tax Collectors” by Marinus Roejmerswaelen, 1550 |
Reading I: Isaiah
58:9b-14
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 malice-
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.
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Commentary on Is
58:9b-14
This selection
from Isaiah in the post exilic period is part of the second in a series of
poems. The Prophet continues exhorting the people to understand that God
desires a spirit of compassion and generosity.
He tells the people that if they follow this course they will be greatly
rewarded and will receive rich blessings from God.
In v. 10-14
Isaiah explains what it means to keep the Sabbath day holy. Again, following this command brings the
faithful rich rewards from God.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm
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.
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Commentary on Ps
86:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
Psalm 86 is a lament. The psalmist sings of a life afflicted and
asks God to give his servant relief. The
song indicates the faithfulness of the singer, even in times of distress.
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Gospel: Luke
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.”
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Commentary on Luke
5:27-32
The story of the
call of St. Matthew in Luke’s Gospel immediately follows Jesus’ confrontation with
the Pharisees that culminated with the cure of the paralytic lowered through
the roof. “A man named Matthew: Mark names this tax collector
Levi (Mark 2:14).
No such name appears in the four lists of the twelve who were the closest
companions of Jesus (Matthew 10:2-4;
Mark 3:16-19; Luke
6:14-16; Acts
1:13 [eleven, because of the
defection of Judas Iscariot]), whereas all four list a Matthew, designated in Matthew
10:3 as "the tax collector."
The evangelist may have
changed the "Levi" of his source to Matthew so that this man, whose
call is given special notice, like that of the first four disciples (Matthew
4:18-22), might be included among the
twelve. Another reason for the change may be that the disciple Matthew was the
source of traditions peculiar to the church for which the evangelist was
writing”[4]
.It is much more focused on
the reaction of the Pharisees than the same story in Matthew (Matthew
9:9).
The message, however, is clear.
Jesus came so that we (who are all sinners) might understand that God’s
love is for them as well.
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Reflection:
We
begin with Prayer:
Lord, send forth your Holy
Spirit and continue to guide and inspire our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI
during these final days of his papacy. Be with the College of Cardinals for the
next conclave and fill them with your grace. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
As we struggle to understand
what our faith calls us to do and to be in the world, one of the most difficult
areas to put into practice is our attitude of compassion. You might think to challenge that statement
saying, “But I am always compassionate.”
But, in Jesus, the depth of compassion goes much deeper than what most
of us can accomplish consistently.
God tried to convey the need for
those who follow him to show compassion and consolation to those less fortunate
from the beginning of his revelatory work with humankind. The Book of the Prophet Isaiah demonstrates
this. In the first reading the prophet extols the Hebrews to “…remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and
malicious speech; If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the
afflicted.” He calls on the people to show compassion to
the poor and the downtrodden. If they do
this consistently they become a light in the darkness; a people God will
abundantly reward as only he can.
Jesus takes that notion to a
higher level with his example in the Gospel of St. Luke. Following his call of a controversial
disciple, St. Matthew, he chooses to dine, not in the pious halls of the
Pharisees, but with tax collectors. When
those zealous Pharisees complain that he has sullied himself by doing so, he
tries one more time to explain the meaning of compassion; of loving one’s
neighbor. We can see how much this must
disturb them; later they will engage in the plot to have the one who is
compassion incarnate put to death.
The lessons taught by Isaiah
and Jesus are very clear for us. We are
to extend the loving had of compassion and generosity to those who are less
fortunate. The Lenten discipline of
almsgiving is clearly expressed today.
We may not be able to take in the homeless or the afflicted, but we must
not ignore them; avert our eyes so we do not see them, or rationalize that we
cannot help. We are reminded that when
we perform acts of mercy and charity in God’s name, the Lord is glorified and “He will renew your strength, and you shall be like a watered
garden”.
Pax
[2]
The picture is “The Tax Collectors” by Marinus Roejmerswaelen, 1550
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and
is for private use only.
[4]
See NAB footnote on Matthew 9:9
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