Doctor

The WORD today (see http://usccb.org/bible/readings/030417.cfm) reminds me that God is a doctor who would never stop coming to me until I get healed. 

Jesus said in the gospel that healthy people do not need a physician, sick people do. Come to think of it, this is true. Doctors are there to help and heal sick people until they are healthy again to take care of themselves. This is how Jesus acts. Jesus looks for sinners not to condemn them, but to save and make them whole, until they can continue to take care of themselves and prepare to be brought back to God’s arms.

When we sin, God does not love us less but rather, he loves us more.

In the gospel, we see that Jesus did not go to the house of the self righteous people who think they do not need Him. He went to the house of a sinner, Levi, a tax collector. Other people were there, including scribes and Pharisees which were the religious at that time. But he went to Levi’s house, he loved him more, because Levi was humble and was willing to be healed by him.

God’s love for us makes us better, makes us whole, and heals us. Like a doctor, he will stay with us until we are well enough to take care of ourselves. As God touches our lives, we should be moved like the psalmist and pray that God would continue to teach us his ways. And God does, as we see in the first reading what he wants us to do, how he wants us to live, and with the blessings that come with us. He also promises us that as we try to live for Him, as we do our best, he will continue to be there to guide and help us. We just have to be like Levi who obeyed him. Who followed him. Who was willing to immediately change and surrender so God can work in him. 

May we be humble enough to accept that we need him, and allow him to heal and restore us until we can slowly take care of ourselves and stay close to Him. May we also react like Levi and immediately follow God when he calls us. 

Father God,

Thank you for today. Thank you for another day to live. Thank you for another weekend. Thank you for all the blessings. Lord, I am sorry for all my sins, for living a life away from you. Sorry for being contented with just knowing what you want me to do and not to follow you.  Seek me, Lord. And as you find me, I ask that you never let go of me. I humbly submit to you and allow you to heal me and to love me. And as I experience your love, help me live right, so I can share you to others as well. Amen.

Blessed day!

In Christ,

-g-

Ps

See related reflections:

http://mysimplereflection.blogspot.com/2012/01/follow-him_14.html

http://mysimplereflection.blogspot.com/2013/02/leave-everything-behind.html

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March 4, 2017
Saturday after Ash Wednesday
Lectionary: 222

Reading 1 Is 58:9b-14

Thus says the LORD:
If you remove from your midst oppression,
false accusation and malicious speech;
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;
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.
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."

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 maliceB
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.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 86:1-2, 3-4, 5-6

R. (11ab) Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.
Incline your ear, O LORD; answer me,
for I am afflicted and poor.
Keep my life, for I am devoted to you;
save your servant who trusts in you.
You are my God.
R. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.
Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for to you I call all the day.
Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
R. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in kindness to all who call upon you.
Hearken, O LORD, to my prayer
and attend to the sound of my pleading.
R. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.

Verse Before the Gospel Ez 33:11

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

Gospel Lk 5:27-32

Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post.
He said to him, "Follow me."
And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him.
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.
The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying,
"Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"
Jesus said to them in reply,
"Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do.
I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners."