SATURDAY 16TH JANUARY, 2021
SATURDAY THE OF THE FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR B
R1:- Hebrew 4:12-18
PS:- 19:8.9.10.15
Accl:- Luke 4:18
Gospel:- Mark 2:13-17
THEME: ALL IN NEED OF MERCY
It is difficult to go fishing without touching water. Part of our pastoral hazards come from comments and misconceptions that trail some of the steps we take in our efforts to reach out to those who most in need of God’s mercy.
In a any case, we all are in need of God’s mercy. All we need to do is to approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrew 4:16.
In our today’s gospel, the Lord said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Mark 2:17
Like some of the scribes and pharisees, we often love to practise the religion of discrimination. As a result of our prim religiosity, we cut ourselves from those who we tag as the bag eggs in the community. Because of our pseudo spirituality, we even forget that we all are in need of God’s mercy.
More so, we seek to mingle with only those who show signs of piety or those who we think are followers of our ways. Some of us have soft spot only for the members of our religious sects.
However, Jesus refused to be conditioned by the religious restrictions of his time. He honoured the invitation of Matthew, the tax collector. After Matthew’s conversion, visiting and sitting with him was another opportunity to reach out to some of his friends or co- tax collectors. He made used of every given opportunity to reach out to those in need of God’s mercy.
Therefore, we must not allow side-talks to stop us from doing whatever God has placed in our hearts. It is not what people say that matters, but what God is doing in or through us.
May the good Lord give us an open heart, that we may take the message of salvation to all and sundry through Christ our Lord. Amen.
