💖 HOMILY - JANUARY 14 💖

First Reading - Hebrew 4:12-16

Gospel - Mark 2:13-17

To be a disciple of Jesus is a way of life rather than a concept or an idea. It's a way to follow Christ in loving our fellow brothers and sisters, even in their miseries and failures. The readings of today invite us to respond to the invitation of Jesus - "follow me" - in our everyday's life.

The first reading of today lays stress on two important aspects: The efficacy of the Word of God and greatness of Jesus. The efficacy of the Word of God underlines that it is powerful in a sense that it can penetrate and expose the inner heart of man. The Word is a "discerner" or "critic." God uses His Word to enable us to see the sin and unbelief in our hearts. The Word exposes our hearts; and then, if we trust God, the Word enables our hearts to obey God and claim His promises. 

The second part of the passage highlights the greatness of Jesus not only because he is God and divine but because he exemplifies for all humanity how to be empowered by the Word to obey God and follow His path in loving obedience. He was one like us but, saturated with the Word, he overcomes the obstacles of sin.

In the gospel, we hear about the call of Levi. This account of the call of Levi is special because of the response of Levi. He immediately followed Jesus leaving everything (secular world) at his invitation - " Follow me." The invitation of Jesus to Levi to become a part of a close circle of his disciples sounds weird because he was a tax collector, an enemy of his own people, hated for his job and above all considered as a public sinner. Jesus not only calls him to become his disciple and also dines with him at the same table. This incident simply incites and provokes the scribes and Pharisees because by this time Jesus had been already known as a teacher and as a teacher they expected a different behaviour where he would avoid company with sinners and alike like they themselves did. Jesus takes this as an occasion to teach that he has come for the lost and sinners so that they will be won for God. Jesus affirms that it's the lost who need grace from God. It's by showing them mercy, they can be restored to God.

Dear friends, we all stand in need of God's grace. The grace of God cannot be merited but is bestowed on us by God Himself out of his mercy. Jesus, in the gospel of today, underlines that he has come to liberate us from our spiritual setbacks by inviting us in his company. Jesus has called us through our Baptism, forgiven our sins, and welcomed us as members of the Kingdom. In fact, He calls us daily through His Word and through His Church, to be His disciples, and to turn away from all the things that distract us and draw us away from Him. Let's respond to the call of Jesus - "follow me" - by making an effort to renounce our sinful past like the Levi who left everything to follow Jesus. Let's the invitation of Jesus "to follow me" change us too to become an instrument to lead many other souls to him. Let's the voice of Jesus "follow me" enable us to renew ourselves to live every bit of our life following his teachings. May the Spirit of the Lord guide and enable us to respond to the call of Jesus faithfully.