Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. 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.” (Lk 5:27-32)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030522.cfm
When Pope Francis speaks about the Eucharist and says that Communion is not the reward for good behavior but rather is medicine for the sick, it is this passage that he’s referring to. As the Great Physician reminds us, “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do.” Today we have a beautiful Ukrainian Lenten hymn to the Virgin Mary, the Sorrowful Mother.
These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
Ash Saturday of the Blessed Virgin Mary
