The WORD in other words (2009) by – Fr. Emmanuel de Leon, SVD – SVD Retreat House, Baguio City)
Saturday After Ash Wednesday
One day when Pope John the XXIII was bishop of Venice he was told that one of his priests was becoming an alcoholic, “We’ll have to go and visit him,” he told his secretary.
When they got near the presbytery of the priest’s parish, the bishop and his secretary stopped at a hotel, and the future Pope John sent his secretary off to get the priest. The secretary came back and said, “His hat is lying on the table, but he isn’t there.”
To which the future pope answered, “If his hat is there, he must also be there. God, and look again.”
A few minutes later the secretary came back. He had found the priest at the local pub. All three of them walked over the presbytery. There the bishop offered the priest a chair and said to him, “Sit down, brother. I want you to hear my confession.”
–Willi Hoffsuemmer
Just like the understanding bishop in the story, Jesus in today’s Gospel does not cover up the tax collector’s situation. He shows his critics that as the Messiah, he has come to call sinners like them, not to condone their sinful acts but correct them. Jesus, as divine physician, associates with the spiritually sick to invite them to repentance.
Some scholars interpreters believe that today’s Gospel is not only about an event that happened in Jesus’s time. It may have been written to address the criticisms thrown against the early Christians for associating with the sinners and pagans. The early Christians displayed such attitude in imitation of Jesus who showed it first.
Jesus and the early Christians worked on the new principle of salvation, that is, salvation by association rather than salvation by segregation. It was a break from the customary practice of the Jewish religious leaders, who avoided table fellowship with tax collectors and sinners.
Levi, a tax collector and an outcast, is called to such an association and he becomes not only a follower, but, also a disciple of Jesus. The call of Levi comes with a message that a sincere conversion is demanded by Jesus from his followers. The story of the call of Levi shows that even the worst among sinners could respond to Jesus’s call with wholehearted sincerity as Levi did.
Henry W. Longfellow said: “If we can read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each person’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm any hostility.” In the spirit of the compassionate Lord, we can also say that, if we can read the secret history of all sinners then we should find in them their life’s sorrow and sufferings, enough to stop us from condemning them; instead, we will be more compassionate toward them.
The message of today’s Gospel is a challenge to ask ourselves: Do we still find it easy to despise sinners? Do our attitudes toward sinners reflect our heavenly Father’s loving heart?
