18 January 2025 - Saturday of the 1st week,
Homily
This short Gospel has two distinct parts: first, the vocation of Levi, and then the meal given by Levi in his house.
The account of Levi's vocation follows the pattern of vocations described in the Gospel. Jesus does not enter into a long conversation. He does not explain in detail what he is proposing. He doesn't give people time to think. He simply asks people to follow him: ‘Follow me’. Those who are called are not called to this or that, to this or that situation. They are simply called to become disciples of Jesus. When we are baptized, and when we enter religious or monastic life, we are fundamentally called to this, first of all: to follow Christ, wherever he wants to lead us.
And Jesus calls whoever he wants, including tax collectors and sinners. Publicans, or tax collectors, were equated with sinners. It seems that they were not paid for their work, and that they had to earn their own wages by collecting more than they were required to. But that was not why they were considered sinners. It was because they were traitors to their own people, collecting taxes from their brethren for the Roman Empire which was then occupying Israel.
The surprising thing is that Levi, the tax collector, when called by Jesus, gets up and starts to follow him. There are no words from him in this account, and no hesitation either. First of all, he invites Jesus to a big meal, to which all his friends, the other tax collectors and sinners come. Even though his life has taken a completely different direction, even though his values are no longer the same as theirs, Levi does not haughtily reject those who were once his workmates and friends. Something important now separates him from them, but they remain human beings, and above all they remain his friends. By coming to this meal, Jesus approves of this attitude. And when he is reproached for doing so, his response is that he has not come to call righteous people (or those who consider themselves righteous) but sinners.
We need to be aware of the separation we often make in our hearts and minds between ourselves and those we call ‘sinners’. In reality, the dividing line between good and evil does not run between different groups of people; it runs through the centre of each of our hearts. Jesus wasn't interested in a private, one-on-one meal with any of us. He always sat at the communal table where all sinners are. Fortunately, we are part of that community. Let's not forget that we would be the losers.
Each of us has received our vocation through the Word of God. Whether we have been challenged one day by a Word of Scripture, or whether it is the Word of God spoken in each of our hearts. The first reading of the Mass, from the Letter to the Hebrews, describes how this Word is like a two-edged sword.