Daily Bible Reflections
We should always be on the lookout for those who are unable to care for themselves. These are the Anawim or Little Ones of God. If we do not care for them, who will? If we do not care for them, then we will be judged on this lack of love and care for our brothers and sisters in need (see also the Parable of the Sheep and Goats in Matthew 25).
Isaiah 58:9b-14
9 Thus says the LORD: If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; 10 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; 11 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. 12 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.” 13 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 malice — 14 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.
P S A L M
Psalm 86:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
R: Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.
1 Incline your ear, O LORD; answer me, for I am afflicted and poor. 2 Keep my life, for I am devoted to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God. (R) 3 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for to you I call all the day. 4 Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. (R) 5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in kindness to all who call upon you. 6 Hearken, O LORD, to my prayer and attend to the sound of my pleading. (R)
G O S P E L
Jesus never gives up on anyone. He always has hope that His grace can change a person’s life and bring him to repentance and conversion. Levi, the tax collector, would have been considered a hopeless case by the Jews. He was a traitor and collaborator with an occupying power and, on top of that, was corrupt and self-serving. There was no hope for him. But Jesus chooses him to be a disciple. Let us never lose hope that anyone is beyond conversion.
Luke 5:27-32
27 Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” 28 And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him. 29 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. 30 The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 Jesus said to them in reply, “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. 32 I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.”
my reflections
t h i n k : Let us never lose hope that anyone is beyond conversion.
source: kyregma
