Isaiah 58:9B-14; Psalm 86:1-2; 3-4, 5-6; Luke 5:27-32 REFLECTION Some of my favorite passages from scripture are stories about Jesus’ encounters with the Pharisees. It’s amusing to hear Jesus put them in their place, but I have a tendency when I read about the Pharisees to also look at others as sinners, and think about how I can be more merciful like Jesus. I think to myself, how can I reach out to our modern day tax collectors more? How can I, a righteous person, welcome the less righteous to the table? But looking at the reading from Isaiah and the psalm, I am humbled. I’m forced to reflect: how often do I actively remove “oppression, false accusation and malicious speech” from my life? Our passage says that only then, shall the light rise. Further, our psalmist prays, “answer me, for I am afflicted and poor.” He acknowledges his own shortcomings. So then, when I really think about it, what makes me believe I am not Levi in the story? For Levi did not just follow Jesus, but he then “gave a great banquet for him in his house.” I may be following Jesus, but am I bringing him into my life to guide me in the ways I fall short to live as God teaches? How can I even claim to be on Jesus’ level and wish to reach out to others, when I haven’t accepted that I need Jesus just as much? If I finished the Gospel thinking I was the healthy without need of a physician, I would be gravely mistaken. I am always in need of Jesus’ mercy; I am Levi awaiting the salvation that Easter brings. Alexis Larios, Class of 2018, is a Government and English major in the College.
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