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Lenten Weekday
Isaiah 58:9B-14
Psalm 86:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
Luke 5:27-32
Summary
In the gospel reading, Levi is called by Jesus to follow him. Levi
leaves everything to follow Jesus. In celebration, Levi holds a great
banquet during which Jesus is criticized by the Pharisees for associ-
ating with tax collectors. Jesus reminds us of one of the missions of
his ministry: to lead sinners to repentance.
Reflection
Many times when we read a gospel passage, we immediately latch on
to the message conveyed by Jesus. I did exactly this when reading
this passage. I read verses 31 and 32 and thought, ˈAwesome!
Thank you Jesus!ˉ What a wonderful message to reflect on. There is
hope in Jesus˅ words and connection to his ministry. But as I reread
the passage, I was drawn to what Levi did in response to God˅s call.
God called Levi. He responded by leaving everything, following Jesus
and
then
Levi threw a big party. It seems to me that the ˈgreat ban-
quetˉ gets lost in the gospel reading. It could be just the platform for
Jesus˅ statement. It was a way to bring all these people together, for