25 February 2023

25 February 2023

Saturday after Ash Wednesday

Jesus retorts the Pharisees in today’s Gospel, “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” (Luke 5:31-32). After inviting Levi (or St. Matthew) to follow him, they gather for a feast in Levi’s home. The Pharisees challenge Jesus’s spiritual authority by questioning the type of company he keeps. They suppose that if he hangs around tax collectors and sinners, then Jesus cannot set a good example for his disciples. Instead, Jesus does set a good example by showing that doctors do their job best by encountering rather than avoiding the unwell.

            This episode comes directly after when Jesus heals the paralytic that is brought in through the roof. In this encounter, Jesus heals the man’s soul by forgiving his sin and curing his body. Now at this dinner party, Jesus references himself again as a doctor – even though no one at the party is ostensibly ill. Jesus, unlike other doctors, is a doctor of the whole person. He does not just tend to our physical wounds and forget the rest. Reversely, Christ is not only a spiritual doctor who is only interested in our spiritual state. He cares for the whole person. St. Ignatius invites Jesuit provincials to do this sort of care for other Jesuits. He calls it cura personalis. In our schools, we teach our students to likewise care for the whole person, whether they plan to be educators, doctors, computer programmers, or accountants. How can I be like Jesus in my personal vocation and care for the whole person I serve?