Humbly submit your will to God (thy Will be done) and consecrate yourself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Jesus went out along the sea.
All the crowd came to him and he taught them.
As he passed by, he saw Levi, son of Alphaeus,
sitting at the customs post.
Jesus said to him, “Follow me.”
And he got up and followed Jesus.
While he was at table in his house,
many tax collectors and sinners sat with Jesus and his disciples;
for there were many who followed him.
Some scribes who were Pharisees saw that Jesus was eating with sinners
and tax collectors and said to his disciples,
“Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
Jesus heard this and said to them,
“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.
I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” Mk 2:13-17
Today, Jesus reminds us the reason he was Anointed, or His mission (the Catholic Church’s today/ours), to save us from sin. Which one of us is not a sinner? We are all in the same category in God’s eyes. His love and mercy are infinite. Those who repent and try to change their life by dying to self and putting on Christ each day are saved. Jesus reminds us in the Gospel today that “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners”. The greatest sinners are those who are selfish and stubborn. Those who do not recognize their blessings and share them. Those who never take the time to get out of their comfort zone and work with the poor.
In our minds the Devil likes to deceive us by saying, “Well those people on that side of town or downtown deserve what they get, they don’t work hard or they have made a lot of bad choices. I am not going to help them.” That is interesting because Jesus Christ, the Truth, spent most of His time with these people. The resurrection of Christ gave hope to the hopeless and we are called to imitate Christ and be that hope. Which voice are you going to follow? Jesus or the Devil.
Think about it. You are exactly right that people have made really stupid choices. They are drug addicts, alcoholics, prostitutes, in a cycle of poverty, but anything God makes never loses it’s value no matter how beaten up and bruised. They are still part of our human family. These are the ones that Jesus saw and His heart was moved with pity. These are the people who have lost hope and we have a great opportunity to be Jesus Christ for them today, the way Jesus was for them while He was on earth. God’s love and mercy for you is infinite.
No matter how many bad decisions you make or times you sin, He is the Father of the story in the Prodigal Son. How can we allow this love and mercy to stop with us? We must go to the face of Jesus and to those who have screwed up the worst and give them hope. Mother Teresa said that the poor person was doing more for the Gospel than Pope John XXIII (later became a saint), Martin Luther King, Jr, and Ghandi. ”The poor know how to suffer and work hard.” She said we would never see God face to face if we did not have the poor on earth. Get off the couch and go see God in the poor!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pope Francis’s main mission as pope has been to get the Catholic Church back into the streets where Jesus started it. ”I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been on the streets rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security”. When is the last time you have seen the face of Jesus Christ in the homeless? Going to Church on Sundays, putting on a Catholic school uniform and acting Catholic for 8 hours a day, looking for the shortest Mass, thinking you have taken care of your duty as a Christian is so far from the Truth. Living comfortably on this side of town with plenty is not sinful, but our hearts are begging to share with those in need.
Jesus is calling you to “follow me” into the streets to the least of the people among us. It starts by helping those in our homes and parishes, but extends to those in our community. There is such a need. Jesus ate with public sinners like tax collectors and prostitutes, cured the lepers who were banned from the towns, the orphans and widows, those possessed by demons, the drunks, those who lived in the cycle of poverty, and the rich who do not give. It is time to get uncomfortable for Christ. Die to self, put on Christ and experience joy like you never have before.
Today’s challenge: Find the hardest, dirtiest, worst section of your Stewardship form and sign up. Get out there and start helping those who are in need the most as Christ has done for you as a sinner.
Be a servant, become a saint!
Christian YODO
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