GOD SPEAKS

Today’s reading is taken from a passage, which deals with the question of fasting. The prophet however, emphasizes that merely external worship-such as by fasting –of itself does not avail with God. it must be joined to internal sincerity. What the Lord most desires is not external act of fasting but kindness and sense of justice.

The prophesy reminds us of the missionary dimension of lent, during which the church with a fresh burst of energy, commits itself to announce the good news to all the nations, to all human beings for whom Jesus died and rose from the dead, Jesus whom we all must follow carrying our own crosses each day. We should not have hesitation on the meaning of lent and its works to which the church calls the faithful. We must commit ourselves to the service of the poor in order to establish a more just world. Behind all asceticism, fasting, self-renunciation, all animated by prayer have their motive and aim in exercise of charity.

The oracle also concludes with a few lines on the sanctification of the Lord’s Day. The prophet reminds of our obligation to worship. The emphasis is placed on actions.

Jesus gave us the example of the sanctification of the Lord’s Day by works of mercy. The gospel records several cures accomplished on the Sabbath in the synagogue. To those reproached him, Jesus one day went so far as to say ‘the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath’ (Mark 2:27).

In the Gospel of today Jesus says, “those who are healthy do not need a physician but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.” a doctor doesn’t need to visit healthy people; insisted he goes to those who are sick. Jesus like wise sought those in the greatest need. A true physician seeks healing of the whole person-body, mind, and spirit. Jesus came as the divine physician and good shepherd to care for his people and to restore them to wholeness of life. But he leaders of the Jews people were so preoccupied with their own practice of religion that they neglected to help the very people who needed the greatest care. Jesus statement is a word of revelation regarding himself and mission that his father had given him. It also clearly gives the idea of the mission of the church and the disciples.

One day Job went into his office early, just as he had done the previous 4days of the week. He had worked about 50 hours a week for the past two to three months. He had a good job, enjoyed the little time he with his children and loved his wife dearly. On that day when he went to the office he sat down and faced his computer monitor, but suddenly felt very empty. He asked himself what am I doing here? What’s the purpose of my life?

On that same morning a women was praying far distance. She felt especially led by the spirit to pray, so that the Lord would touch someone who is feeling empty and alone. She spent the next ten minutes praying that the lonely would be open to God’s mercy and love. At the same time without her knowledge Job broke down and began to weep. He realized that he had been pursuing things that really did not matter. He began to ask god to help him.

There are probably countless ‘Job’s’ in the world today. In present society in their own way each of them I experience a form of life “in the desert”. It could be we our selves. Yet Jesus wants to come to them as well as to us to bring a new life. Jesus as he came to Levi and turned his life around, Jesus wants to come to everyone who has immersed themselves in the world, He wants to offer us a way out.

Here we need to ask question: Are we interceding for others? Are we asking the Lord to go to those in the ‘desert’ of emptiness and loneliness?

Through the story of Levi and his household feast, Jesus does not reject those whose lives are consumed by the world, rather, he wants to sit down with them, share his heart with them, and give them a glimpse of what their lives can be like if they turned to him.

From

HRUDAYRAJ SCJ

FIRST YEAR THOELOGY STUDENT