SATURDAY FEBRUARY 17, 2024
SATURDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY
Isaiah 58:9-14
Luke 5:27-32
LEVI: MODEL OF TRUE CONVERSION
The lenten season invites all to true conversion. And the life of Levi stand as true model of what a converted soul should be.
God’s mercy and compassion extended to the whole world is not at all limited in any way. There is no discrimination in God’s love and mercy. Neither riches, poverty, nor tribe, beauty can determine who God’s call can be extended to. God is even more sympathetic to the weak, the downtrodden, the sinners and the disadvantaged in the world. His words today in the Gospel, tells it all, that he came to call sinner to repentance since they need him more than all as the sick need a physician more than the healthy.
So in the call of Levi was not a mistake rather it was the desire of God to come to the aid and support of those who are weak, poor sinners and those in need of his help to raise them above their faults and sins.
But the greater point of his discourse is the part Levi played. He understands his predicament. He knows his shortcomings. And recognizes his need of God. He is conversant with his situation as a sinner. So when Jesus approached him and beckoned on him, he was able to decode the call and responded adequately.
The scripture says that Levi rose from his seat, his office that gives him greater material satisfaction, he left everything and followed Jesus. It is an act of faith. The love of God in Jesus was not declined in Levi. Levi even went ahead to invite his friends, to show his total submission to the call. He abandoned his life of luxury, his sinful desires, his bad name among the people and seized the opportunity to become a disciple of Christ not knowing so much how his life will turn out to be.
In our situations as human being the season of lent calls us to turn to God as Jesus beckons on us to introspect into our lives to discover our faults and sins. We must be armed with the humility of Levi, his promptness, his total surrender, and his earnest intentions of making his conversion public to his peers and others as he prepared and hosted a banquet in honor of the Lord.
What awaits us all in the future as true converted Christian is not short of what Isaiah the prophet says today in the first reading. That if we do away with the yoke, with wickedness and turn to the Lord, then our light will shine, our wounds will be healed over, and goodness shall follow us.
The Lord means well for us all, and the key to open our fortune is through conversion and listening to the voice of Christ who calls. Let us arm ourselves with a humble submissive spirit and follow Jesus who is full of life and compassion.
God our Father, we thank you for calling us to repentance, for coming to rescue us. Help us to heed your call, to answer you and to turn a new leaf for the better. May our hearts incline to your call, our wills be taken over by you and our desires be always to follow you unreservedly through Christ our Lord.
Fr Norbert Uchuno
