‘FOLLOW ME’

Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” – Luke 5:27

    The next 40 days is a wonderful time to accept Jesus’ invitation: “Follow Me” (Luke 5:27). If you’re like me, you might be tempted to “buy” His love through acts of piety. Or you may feel burdened by fasting, almsgiving and praying longer. It’s all a matter of attitude. You can follow Him as a servant who feels forced or coerced to be pious. Or you can choose to follow Him as a friend and enjoy every second of the journey!

       Fast, so that when you feel hunger or desire, you will be reminded to focus on Him, no longer on His gifts or provision. Instead, focus on His face and His loving gaze.

       Whatever money you save by fasting from a tall cup of coffee, give as alms. Give it lovingly and joyfully. Maybe God wants you to surprise your laundrywoman with a pack of goodies for her kids!

       Pray a little longer. Pray more often. Don’t just recite your prayers — revel in them! Sincerely lift up every word of prayer and enjoy the fact that God is listening, delighting in the time you take to be with Him.

       Finally, the most pious act you can do is this: Let Jesus love you! Marc Lopez (lamblightschool@yahoo.com)

Reflection: Jesus says, “Follow Me.” What’s your response?

St. Casimir, pray for us.

We rejoice and remember on Sabbath day the marvelous things the Lord has done for His people. But often we think that to take a break means a lost opportunity. A break from daily life allows us to reflect on our relationship with God and gain inspiration to live faithfully.

9 Thus says the Lord: If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; 10 if you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday; 11 then the Lord will guide you always and give you plenty even on the parched land. He will renew your strength, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails. 12 The ancient ruins shall be rebuilt for your sake, and the foundations from ages past you shall raise up; “Repairer of the breach,” they shall call you, “Restorer of ruined homesteads.” 13 If you hold back your foot on the sabbath from following your own pursuits on my holy day; if you call the sabbath a delight, and the Lord’s holy day honorable; if you honor it by not following your ways, seeking your own interests, or speaking with malice — 14 Then you shall delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob, your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

R: Teach me your way O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.

1 Incline your ear, O Lord; answer me, for I am afflicted and poor. 2 Keep my life, for I am devoted to you; save your servant who trusts in you. 3 You are my God. (R) Have mercy on me, O Lord, for to you I call all the day. 4 Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. (R) 5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in kindness to all who call upon you. 6 Hearken, O Lord, to my prayer and attend to the sound of my pleading. (R)

Jesus calls us to be open to “sinners” and “saints” and be a channel of His grace to the people He sends us to serve. If we do not relate with sinners, how do we encourage them to follow Jesus and live a new life in Him?

I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, says the Lord, but rather in his conversion, that he may live.

27 Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” 28 And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him. 29 Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were at table with them. 30 The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 Jesus said to them in reply, “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. 32 I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.”

think: What would you do to prepare if Jesus were to come and dine with you at your home?

Read the Bible in one year 1 Peter 1-5

T O D A Y’S BLESSING LIST

thank You, Lord, for: ______________________________________________________

First a leper, then a paralytic, and now a tax collector. Jesus should have been more careful about the company He was keeping if he were to run for public office today. But Jesus’ mission was not to gain popularity but, as Luke wrote in the preceding chapter, “to proclaim freedom to the prisoners, recovery of sight to the blind, and to heal the broken-hearted.” And these people are not always respectable. Take the case of Levi, the tax collector. He was sitting in his tax booth, waiting to collect a toll on any goods upon entry in the region ruled by Herod Antipas. Instead of collecting the tax, he was “collected” by Jesus to become part of His inner circle.

       What did Levi feel when he heard the words, “Follow me”? He was being called to leave his lucrative trade as a tax collector to become almost a beggar. In other words, he is being called from wealth to poverty. What would have been your reaction if you were Levi?

       That Jesus has sought him out and selected him on purpose must have touched him, the tax collector, the outcast, hated and avoided by all. That he is wanted — needed, in fact — by this Miracle Worker, this Teacher whom the crowds follow, is enough for him. Luke writes, “And he left everything, and rose and followed him.” Not only that, he replies to Jesus by also inviting His new Master, “Jesus, I would be honored if you would be my guest for supper.” And Jesus accepts.

       To follow the invitation of Jesus is not always easy. But we know Jesus even better than Levi knew Him when he heard the words “Follow me!” Yes, we know Jesus much better now and know also that He invites us to follow Him by taking up our cross — daily. Do we invite Him in our lives, or are we at times a bit afraid of having Him too close? He might say something demanding again — like, forgive and love your enemy. Hmmm! Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD

---------- REFLECTION QUESTIONS ----------

Do you hear Jesus inviting you personally to follow Him? What is your response?

Lord, thank You for inviting me into Your friendship. Too often I have not responded the way Levi did. I need Your grace to react more joyfully to Your invitations. Amen.