GOSPEL POWER - JANUARY 16, 2021 - SATURDAY

Gospel: Mk 2:13-17 

Jesus went out again beside the sea; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them. As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples — for there were many who followed him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

REFLECTION

Boundaries that separate the righteous from sinners are simply creations of the ego-mind to prop up its self-image. Before God, all are sinners, and only by humbly admitting that condition can one be ready for the gift of righteousness. For righteousness can never be the fruit of one’s striving to follow laws and avoid the company of those who do not follow them. Jesus is the bearer of God’s gift of righteousness. Those who are convinced that they already possess it and treat sinners contemptuously are simply deceiving themselves. Sinners who are open to receive it as gift by putting their faith in Jesus are closer to the Kingdom of God than those who pride themselves on being righteous.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, grant that our admission of being sinners make us more compassionate toward fellow-sinners. Amen.