Word to the Wise
Saturday, February 28, 2009 - Saturday after Ash Wednesday
[Isaiah 58:9B-14 and Luke 5:27-32]Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.
There's an old expression: "You can tell a person's character by the company they keep!" What then would we say of Jesus' character? We know what the "Pharisees and their scribes" said! Do we feel a certain hidden sympathy for them? After all, do we not discriminate in the company WE keep? Don't we have the "right" to choose with whom we wish to "associate?" Ahem! Of course, Jesus had the same "right" we hasten to add, but really, shouldn't he have shown more "discretion?" For us contemporary folk, what may be more revealing about us is who we DON'T associate with and why! Jesus was not afraid of Pharisee or Publican. He freely associated with all kinds of people from pagan centurion to devout Simon the Pharisee, from Zacchaeus and Levi (the tax collectors) to Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea (Jewish elders). He was not afraid to openly converse with women and have them as his disciples (Mary Magdalen, Mary and Martha of Bethany). He chose a political zealot and a dishonest traitor as two of his Twelve closest collaborators! Other members of that Twelve were impulsive, cowardly, politically ambitious and skeptical! What does that tell us about his character? It could be a very useful Lenten bit of reflection to consider who our associates are! The answer may delight, surprise and shame us all at the same time! While we're doing it, we might keep in mind that if we are able to hear Jesus' call, the chances are that we're sinners! AMEN
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