Saturday after Ash Wednesday

The gospels clearly show that Jesus had a way of including within the community he was gathering about himself people who found themselves on the edge of the society of the time. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus calls Levi, a tax collector, to become one of his closest associates. Tax collectors were wealthy but they were marginalized because of their occupation. They collected a set amount of taxes for the Romans, and they could keep for themselves anything over and above that amount. It was presumed they were not only working for the occupying power but exploiting their own people. Yet, Jesus called a member of this despised profession to assist him in his mission. He clearly saw Levi in a way no one else saw him. There was something about the way Jesus related to Levi that empowered him to leave his lucrative profession and follow this prophet from Nazareth who had nowhere to lay his head. Not only that, he immediately used some of his wealth to host a great banquet at which Jesus was guest of honour and at which many other tax collectors were present. Jesus was like a doctor whose very presence had a transforming impact on others. His ability to convey God’s accepting love for those whose lives left a lot to be desired empowered them to change for the better, to repent. Jesus didn’t call on people to repent first before revealing to them God’s hospitable and accepting love. The good news that God was for them came first and gave people the freedom to change for the better. The risen Lord continues to pour God’s merciful, hospitable and accepting love into all our hearts. If we can open ourselves to receive this gift, we too will be empowered to live in ways that are in keeping with what is best and deepest in us.