Reflection
Tax collectors and sinners!
Today is Saturday, January 17th. It is the Saturday of the First Week in Ordinary Time, yet Jesus says something extraordinary – He came to eat with, and call, tax collectors and sinners.
Tax collectors and sinners! Christ comes by our “customs post” daily. Christ comes where we may live a life focused on things of this world not the next, where we may live a life of immorality instead of morality, where we may live a life of sinfulness instead of holiness and extends to us the same invitation he extended to Levi - “Follow me”.
Like Saul who met Samuel in the gateway, as described in our reading from the Book of Samuel, Christ desires to meet us at the gateway of our hearts. Christ seeks to anoint us in the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, to heal us with sacred balm in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
In a worship space filled with tax collectors and sinners, Jesus beckons us through Sacred Scripture – “Follow me”. In the Eucharist, the real presence of Jesus, Christ proclaims that he offers Himself to us so we can follow him. Like Saul and Samuel, Jesus kisses us at every mass with His words and His flesh.
When we open ourselves to His grace we are transformed into “commanders of his heritage.”
Tax collectors and sinners transformed into disciples and stewards of the Church founded by Christ! .....That, friends, is the Good News of the Gospel.
Will we leave our post like Levi did?