Saturday after Ash Wednesday
Our Gospel today brings us to a familiar scene with Jesus calling a tax collector named Levi to follow him just before sitting down and eating with a large group of tax collectors. The social context underlying this scene is important as those Jews who served as tax collectors were considered outcasts in Jewish society. They were tasked to collect taxes for the Roman Empire and were often shunned for their role and seen as traitors for working with the occupying forces. Jesus certainly would have known this. By calling Levi to follow him and eating with other tax collectors, Jesus causes great scandal breaking religious and social norms. When confronted, Jesus reminds the Pharisees, and us, that he is there to bring forgiveness to sinners. Jesus’ ministry is to heal not only the physical wounds of the sick but also to heal those who have been socially wounded by restoring their membership in the community of faith.
Who among us today might be seen as socially marginalized like the tax collector? Are there those around us on campus and everywhere we go to whom we could be more like Jesus? How are we called to follow Jesus and use our place in the world to lift up those around us? Our faith calls us to take care of those whom society might see as sinners. These people are deemed outcasts because they do not believe what we believe, do not love how we think love should be, or even look like us. Can we call ourselves righteous if we continue to shun those who might look different than us, love differently from us, or believe differently? How do we reconcile the potential disconnect between what this passage and our faith call us to live out and the way we treat those around us who are considered outcasts?
Prayer
Gracious God, open our eyes to the outcasts in our society. Help us to share the gift of Christ to those who need it most. Above all, be with those whose lives are threatened just for being who they are.
Rada Ruggles ’23
First Reading: Isaiah 58:9b-14
