And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him

Is 58,9b-14; Ps 85; Lk 5,27-32
9 MARCH

A single gesture of Jesus is enough, only one of his words and the religious world, made of labels invented by the man of sin, is immediately put in crisis, is recalcitrant and rebels. As soon as the true light breaks into the world of darkness, it begins to raise its infernal cry, because it does not want to be disturbed. Darkness has always manifested its hatred against the light and will always manifest it. But it knows how to disguise its hatred and presents it as attachment to the law, tradition, holiness, truth and justice. But it is a question of law, tradition, sanctity, truth and justice, descended into the mud of man’s sin and made mud of its mud. Words appear to be light. The content that is in them is darkness, falseness, lies and annulment of the Commandment of the Lord. The world of the Pharisees and their scribes is built of hypocrisy. The mask is beautiful. Behind the mask they know how to quite hide all falsehood and lies. Their hypocrisy will eventually justify the crucifixion of the Son of God.

Jesus goes out and sees a publican named Levi, sitting at the tax counter. To this man He says one word: “Follow me!”. Nothing else is added, either before or after. Levi leaves everything, gets up and follows Jesus. Then he prepares a big feast in his house. Jesus sits at the table, but also a large crowd of publicans and other people. It is a scandal. The holy Jesus, the Master, sits at table with sinners. There is no longer separation between justice and injustice, holiness and sin, Pharisees and publicans. It is the death of religion. The Pharisees and their scribes ask a precise question to the disciples of Jesus: “How come you, followers of a teacher who teaches holiness and says to practice justice, eat and drink together with publicans and sinners?” Jesus does not let the disciples respond, He answers directly, through an image taken from everyday life. There is the doctor and there are the sick. Who does the doctor care for: the healthy or the sick? The doctor treats the sick. There is the saint and there is the sinner: who must the true Master cure: the saint or the sinner? As the doctor treats the sick, so the true Master must cure sinners, leading them to conversion and salvation. If the doctor stays away from the sick, avoiding him, what is the use of his science? If the true Master stays away from sinners, avoiding them, what is his doctrine good for? Science serves to heal those who are sick. Doctrine to enlighten those who are in darkness.

After this he went out and 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.”

For Christian, the risk of being closed in his Gospel, in his theology, science and doctrine, mysticism, asceticism, liturgy, prayer, sacred structure, or in his own presumed holiness is a real possibility. That a community can become a self-sufficient castle is also a real possibility. When this happens, it is the death of the Christian. He can do anything, but he is without the Gospel and against the Gospel. The Christian is a true Christian when, knowing that in the world there is still only one soul to be saved, he does as Tobit. This, having known that there was a dead man left on the public square, leaves the spread table, rushes to the corpse, takes it, puts it on his shoulders, brings it home, hides it under the bed and waits for the sun to set to give it burial in secret. Until the Christian does not have this anxiety, yearning and desire for salvation for those who do not yet know Christ the Lord, he cannot claim to be a true disciple of Jesus. He lacks the thirst for salvation which is the essence of the mission of the Master. Making religion a structure that cares only for itself is a very bad thing. Faith is cared for in one way: by giving it. If it is not given, it dies.

Mother of God, Angels and Saints, make us missionaries of salvation and redemption for every man.