1st Week in Ord. Time, Saturday – 15th January 2022 — Gospel: Mark 2,13-17
Ascertain one’s Potential, not Profession
As Jesus walks along the Sea of Galilee, he encounters a tax collector named Levi. He must have been listening to Jesus’ teaching as he counted the tolls at his post. This tax collector’s call to discipleship resembles that of the four fishermen. Like Simon and Andrew casting their nets, and James and John mending their nets in the boat, Levi was doing his job, sitting at his toll booth. When Jesus invited him to follow, Levi gets up, leaving his livelihood behind, and follows Jesus. In contrast to the fishermen, who were seen as honourable Jewish men, the tax collector wasn’t respected at all. The tax collectors were considered agents of Roman power who drained people of their livelihoods. For this reason, their profession made them despise in their society. However, Jesus’ personal invitation ascertains that he looks at the potential, not the profession of this individual.
