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. - Luke 5:31-32
My soldiers are very interesting people. Small injuries have sent people home from this land and my soldiers are very paranoid about going to see the doctors here because they do not want to be sent away. I say it is very interesting because few want to go to war-torn countries but, once here, the bonds of brotherhood in the unit forge an allegiance and loyalty that is so fierce that being sent away is a punishment that few want to bear. However, my soldiers at the same time trust in my leadership and hope in the decisions that I make. The burden of my position requires my constant attention to their needs and weigh them against their wants.
I think that there is a similar thought in the Gospel today. Jesus tells the Pharisees that he eats with the sinners because the sick need a doctor not the healthy. This imagery casts Jesus in the role of healer and physician. It also casts the Pharisees in the category of the healthy. I think that it is often missed that as Jesus corrects and teaches the Pharisees, they are still faithful to the Law. The statements they make are often misguided and they do not see the Lord in their midst. But how often to we make the same mistake? Are we much different from the Pharisees? Do we not know the laws and commandments and yet still find a need for the confessional?
Thus it is the wisdom of the Church given in the scriptures, especially the prophet Isaiah, that “the Lord will renew your strength and you shall be like a watered garden.” Jesus came to call sinners, us. We are called to be renewed by the Lord. I have often wondered what it would be like to dine with the Lord. But we have that opportunity every time we go to the Mass. We can participate in the feast of Heaven in the Eucharist. I feel it more so now that I have come to a time in my life where the shortage of priests and being far, far from home.
An interesting piece of the Mass today comes from the Gospel Acclamation: “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, says the Lord, but rather in his conversion, that he may live” (Ezekiel 33:11). This brief statement from scripture and skillfully placed in the Mass is another call to reconciliation. The scripture reminds us that the Lord takes pleasure in humility and rejoices when we turn back to him. This Lenten season, it cannot be stressed enough the value that exists in the Sacraments. Confession and the Eucharist provide us strength and grace to continue to faithfully serve the Lord and each other.
The Sacraments also help us to participate fully in the season at hand. This is a time for prayer, fasting and almsgiving. The Mass is our prayer joined with the prayers of the faithful but it is also in our personal prayer where we also build holiness. The words that pour from our souls complete mission that sends us forth from the Mass. The weakness in our flesh is purged through fasting. This season calls us to strengthen ourselves for the coming of the Lord. The conversion we experience through prayer, fortified by our fasting is evidenced by almsgiving. It is when we give to others with our time, talent and treasure that we fulfill the commission of Christ sown in our baptism.
This day, let’s call to mind all those who need our prayers. Let’s also call to mind what we can do for others and make good on what we can and the rest entrust to the good grace of the Lord. And, especially in this season, let’s call to mind how we can fast to strengthen our souls. And in our act of faith, let’s us have the strength and courage to answer the Lord when he says to us, “Follow me.”
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