February 21, 2026 -- Saturday after Ash Wednesday
HOMILY
It is truly interesting to see how Jesus, at the beginning of His public ministry, even as the crowds were following Him, called a few people one by one to become His disciples by simply saying to them, ‘Follow me.’ And in each case, these were men who were not part of the crowds of admirers or onlookers and who, in general, were simply going about their work. After the fishermen, Simon, James and John, He now calls a tax collector.
Levi is a fascinating figure. He was a man of society who, as an official of the Roman Empire, had an enviable position, even though he was considered a sinner by the Pharisees because of his collaboration with the occupying power. At Jesus' call, he immediately got up, left everything and followed Him. However, there was something he did not forget or abandon. His friends. He invited them to a great feast to celebrate this important moment in his life, and he also invited Jesus and His first disciples.
It is hard to know what to admire most about Levi: the speed with which he responded to Jesus' call, or his loyalty to his friends, even though they now belonged to a world different from his own. It is not a question of pressuring them to ‘convert’, but simply of sharing his joy with them, just as the Bridegroom shares his joy with his friends.
Of course, the Pharisees, victims as always of their mental structures, cannot understand. Above all, they cannot understand that Jesus and His disciples agree to eat with this crowd. This time, they ask the disciples the question: ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’ Jesus speaks up, and, as is almost always the case in such situations, He does not answer their question directly, but takes them to another level and states a higher principle. First, He quotes a popular proverb: ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.’ And He adds: ‘I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance,’ thus leaving the door open for them too to convert.
The call to follow Him, that is, to be His disciples, is reserved for a few people freely chosen by Him; the call to conversion is extended to all. To us too.
Armand Veilleux