Gospel of the Day
Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Luke 5:27-32
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.”
Come and Follow Me
Lord, how striking is Your gaze! A gaze that penetrates sin and reaches the heart of Matthew. How beautiful it is to contemplate how You reveal to us the merciful face of the Father: You have not come for the healthy, but for the sick; not for the righteous, but for sinners.
Thank you, Lord, because today You make me see how often my heart does not resemble Yours.
When my husband fails, when he hurts me, when he falls into sin… do I resemble more those who point the finger and condemn, or You, who draw close and lift up? Am I a refuge for my husband or am I judgement? Does my look push him further into his guilt or convey the hope that together we can rise again?
You, instead, Lord, draw near, look with tenderness and say unconditionally, “Follow me,” calling to a new life.
Lord, teach me to love with that same heart. Engrave deep within my soul this truth:
> “When he deserves it least, he needs me most.”
So that, instead of closing my heart, I expand it; so that, instead of distancing myself from my husband, I go out to meet him with mercy and a gaze that lifts and restores hope, just as the gaze Matthew found when You called him.
Grounded in Married Life
Helena: Aitor, today was so beautiful. To see so many couples welcoming the message with open hearts… some even with tears in their eyes… how the Lord was moving in their hearts! And afterwards, what an immense grace to receive Him in the Eucharist and feel how He confirmed in us the work that He Himself began.
Aitor: Darling, I experienced it the same way. When the priest said that we had been instruments, I felt such deep joy… and also fear. To think that something as fragile as us could become a channel of His grace. And… yet, shortly afterwards I showed my clay-like weakness with my angry reaction to the dog-owner.
Helena: Aitor, it was only for a moment… but yes… it hurt. That’s why I came to you and took your hand. When I said, “We remain the Eucharist out in the world,” it was the Lord gently correcting us.
Aitor: Helena, hearing you say that calmed me and I could understand that the Eucharist does not end when we leave the church; we are called to remain in His presence at every moment, attentive to the small tests.
Helena: Aitor! Today the Lord has given us two gifts: letting us experience how He can use our poverty, and at the same time gently showing us those places where He still needs to purify us.
Aitor: Oh… Helena… how fragile I am… and how infinite is the patience of the Lord, who has come out to meet me through you.
Prayer
Mother,
Teach us to look at one another with your eyes and to love with your heart so that in every trial we may respond with tenderness and hope.
Blessed and praised be You for ever, Lord.