20180217
REPAIRER OF BROKEN WALLS
17 FEBRUARY, 2018, Saturday after Ash Wednesday
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
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First reading
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Isaiah 58:9-14 ©
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You will be like a spring whose waters never run dry
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The Lord says this:
If you do away with the yoke,
the clenched fist, the wicked word,
if you give your bread to the hungry,
and relief to the oppressed,
your light will rise in the darkness,
and your shadows become like noon.
The Lord will always guide you,
giving you relief in desert places.
He will give strength to your bones
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water
whose waters never run dry.
You will rebuild the ancient ruins,
build up on the old foundations.
You will be called ‘Breach-mender’,
‘Restorer of ruined houses.’
If you refrain from trampling the sabbath,
and doing business on the holy day,
if you call the Sabbath ‘Delightful’,
and the day sacred to the Lord ‘Honourable’,
if you honour it by abstaining from travel,
from doing business and from gossip,
then shall you find your happiness in the Lord
and I will lead you triumphant over the heights of the land.
I will feed you on the heritage of Jacob your father.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 85(86):1-6 ©
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Show me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in
your truth.
Turn your ear, O Lord, and give answer
for I am poor and needy.
Preserve my life, for I am faithful;
save the servant who trusts in you.
Show me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in
your truth.
You are my God, have mercy on me, Lord,
for I cry to you all the day long.
Give joy to your servant, O Lord,
for to you I lift up my soul.
Show me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in
your truth.
O Lord, you are good and forgiving,
full of love to all who call.
Give heed, O Lord, to my prayer
and attend to the sound of my voice.
Show me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in
your truth.
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Gospel Acclamation
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cfPs94:8
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Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
Harden not your hearts today,
but listen to the voice of the Lord.
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
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Or
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Ezk33:11
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Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
I take pleasure, not in the death of a wicked man
– it is the Lord who speaks –
but in the turning back of a wicked man
who changes his ways to win life.
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
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Gospel
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Luke 5:27-32 ©
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Jesus comes not to call the virtuous, but sinners to repentance
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Jesus noticed a tax collector, Levi by name, sitting by the
customs house, and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And leaving everything he 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 who are well who
need the doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the virtuous, but
sinners to repentance.’
REPAIRER OF BROKEN WALLS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ISAIAH 58:9-14; PS 86:1-6; LUKE 5:27-32 ]
“It is not
the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance.” How touching are these words
spoken by our Lord. He has come for the sick and for sinners. This
is a God who cares for us in our brokenness and in our sinfulness. He
came to heal us, body and soul. He not only came to take away our
infirmities but He came to take away our sins. He came precisely
for the tax-collectors and the sinners. He came for the outcasts.
This is the reason for Jesus’ coming. He is as what the first
reading says, “Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with
Dwellings.” Jesus came to reconcile us with God and with each
other. He came to repair our souls.
Levi the
tax-collector was called by the Lord. Jesus could have chosen
better apostles and disciples to join Him. But He came to call everyone
irrespective of position and wealth. Levi must have been moved by the
Lord’s choice of him. He was totally unworthy but the Lord counted him
worthy. This is how the Lord regards each one of us. He wants us to
follow Him. No matter what our past was and our sins, the Lord is ever
ready to forgive us and make us a new creation. In His eyes, we are just
ignorant and foolish. He knows we are not conscious of our real identity
as God’s children.
Hence, we
should not be afraid to let go and allow Him to take over our lives. This
was what Levi did. He “got up, left everything and followed him.” Levi
gave up his business and his security. We can imagine the risk that Levi
took in following Jesus. He was giving up what sustained him all these
years. To give up one’s security and place our security in Jesus requires
courage and faith. Levi did that. Without hesitation, when
the Lord called him, he immediately responded and left his past and his
security, his wealth and position to follow Jesus. We, too, if we want to
find new life, we must be ready to let go of our past and false
security. Many are not willing to give up their sins, their worldly
pursuits and their pleasures because they think these give them
happiness. In fact, these are creating problems in their lives.
When we live in sin, we hurt ourselves and our loved ones. When we are
not living an honest life, there is no peace, joy or real security in this
life.
The outcome
of being loved and accepted by God is the feeling of joy, freedom and
generosity. We can imagine how Levi must have felt to be accepted by
God. All his life he was despised by his own people; and condemned as a
sinner by the Jewish leaders. Although he was making money, yet he had no
friends. He was considered an outcast and marginalized. But with
Jesus, he felt loved and accepted again. This calls for a celebration.
Any man who is in union with God is always joyful and at peace. He wanted
to celebrate. For this reason, he called for a big banquet.
But Levi was
not only celebrating for himself, he wanted his friends to celebrate with him. So “Levi held a great
banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others
were eating with them.” Levi wanted very much to share his new-found joy
and freedom with his other tax-collectors. He too had become a “Repairer
of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.” Having been
reconciled with the Lord, he became a bridge builder and a reconciler.
This was the same feeling of St Paul when he wrote, “All this is from God, who
through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of
reconciliation; that is, God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself,
not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of
reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through
us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Cor 5:18-20)
We who have been healed and reconciled must now do the same for others by
reaching out to those who are alienated from the Lord. We must be
reconcilers.
How can we be
reconcilers during this season of Lent? Firstly, we must be reconciled
ourselves. We cannot bring peace to others when our hearts are not at
peace. We must therefore make ourselves available for the Lord to heal
us. He wants to cure us especially of our pride and selfishness.
The religious leaders could not find healing and they were not at peace within
themselves because they were hypocritical. They found Jesus to be a threat to
their insincerity. So, before we can be reconcilers, we must humble
ourselves to look for the divine physician. We must be ready to
admit that we are wrong and that we need healing. As Jesus reminds us,
“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” So in all
humility we must come before the Lord to seek forgiveness.
For grave
sins, the Lord will say to us, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” Many do not avail themselves
of this sacrament of reconciliation, because of pride. They know that
they need to hear the words of forgiveness from God’s representative because
they are human beings. So let us not allow pride to imprison us. We
must not allow shame to have a hold over us for that is what the devil uses. We
all need assurance from those appointed by God to know that our sins are
forgiven. We also need to unload and speak about our past and our sins so
that we can be healed. What is unknown and unspoken cannot be
healed. So, we must prepare ourselves so that with a contrite heart, we
can make a good sacrament of reconciliation. With courage and confidence,
and with humility, we must pray for the grace of a good confession. Find
a good confessor and unload all your sins and you will find a peace and freedom
that only God can give.
Secondly, we
must be like Levi who became a bridge builder. We must bring others to
Jesus or bring Jesus to them. Many are like the friends and colleagues of
Levi. They are lost, rejected and lonely. Their lives are without
meaning and purpose even though they might have all that they want. We
must find opportunities to introduce Jesus to such people. We can be sure
that many of Levi’s friends must have been touched by the Lord. We too can be
the link between Jesus and those who are searching for the Lord. If we
have discovered Jesus and the difference He makes in our lives, it is only
natural to introduce Him to others. The failure to speak about Jesus to
them means that we are not too sure whether Jesus can make any real difference
in the lives of others. Introducing them to Jesus is not proselytizing
but just an offer, just as we tell people about a product that we bought and
found to be good.
Finally, we
can become healers of souls and bodies when we become the light that “rise in
darkness.” More importantly, we are now called to be living the life of
Christ. This means that like Levi we must live a new life of justice and
charity. The Prophet Isaiah says, “If you do away with the yoke of
oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend
yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then
your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the
noonday.” Instead of doing evil, oppressing people and blaming
people for our woes, we should focus less on ourselves but on those who need
our help. Reaching out to those who are suffering will help us to
identify with their pain and also to appreciate the blessings that we have
received. Charity covers a multitude of sins. (cf 1 Pt 4:8)
By doing good
works, we help ourselves as much as we help others. As we do good, our
capacity to do more good will increase. He will increase our capacity to
do more. “The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a
sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a
well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” So let our
prayer be that of the psalmist, “Show me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in
your truth. You are my God, have mercy on me, Lord, for I cry to you all the
day long. O Lord, you are good and forgiving, full of love to all who
call. Give heed, O Lord, to my prayer and attend to the sound of my
voice.” With Levi, let us seek to follow Jesus and give glory to our
God. “If you call the Lord’s holy day honorable, if you honor it by not
going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you
will find your joy in the Lord.”
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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