Reading 1 Is 58:9b-14
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
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
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.”
RESTORING RUINED FAMILIES
"They shall call you, 'Restorer of ruined homesteads.' " –Isaiah 58:12
Family life has been in disarray for many years. We like to think that the families of the last generation were better than the families of today. Even if this is true, "better" does not mean "good." Look at the alcoholism, abuse, and racism which has characterized so many families for many generations. Family life has been and continues to be in ruins.
However, the good news for this Lent is: "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' " (Is 58:12). If we let Jesus be the Lord of Lent, if we imitate His forty-day fast, if we repent of our sins, if we accept the Lord's grace to forgive one another, and if we believe that nothing is impossible with God (Lk 1:37), then the ancient ruins of family life will be repaired and rebuilt.
God still desires to make holy families, who will lead the Church in the third millennium and prepare the world for His final coming. The devil has been trying to prevent the Lord from restoring these families and making them holy. Although Satan has been able to ruin some families and to delay the fulfillment of God's plan for family life, Satan cannot stop God. The Lord is making holy families, and this Lent He is making them even from broken and ruined families. Be a part of the family-miracle the Lord is doing at this moment.
| PRAYER: | Father, through the intercession of Mary and Joseph, make our families holy. |
| PROMISE: | "Leaving everything behind, Levi stood up and became His follower." –Lk 5:28 |
| PRAISE: | After two generations, Clarence's great-grandchildren are returning to the Church. |
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