Restoring the Breach and Repairing Ruined Households

Homily for Saturday after Ash Wednesday

In today’s Gospel, the Pharisees criticize Jesus for eating with sinners. They have decided that Levi and others like him are not desirable company. Though it would be easy to sit back and consider their behavior as reprehensible, perhaps we subconsciously do the same thing when it comes to certain kinds of sinners. Perhaps there are certain sins that we find off-putting at best and reprehensible at worst.

Jesus has come among us to “repair the breach,” to “restore ruined households.” Those two phrases speak volumes about the effects of sin, even the smallest or what we call venial sins. Sin breaks down relationships. We begin to draw away from “those people.”

Today’s reading from the Prophet Isaiah is actually the second half of the chapter that we read yesterday in which God says, “This is the kind of fasting that I desire.” Once again, a list of behaviors is enumerated that God finds pleasing.

If nothing else, this list tells me that Lent is a time to heal broken relationships. While being more prayerful is certainly called for in our Lenten observance, it is the healing of the broken or breached relationships that is really the agenda for Lent.

The banquet that Levi prepares for Jesus and his friends reminds us once again that the Eucharist is first and foremost the sacrament of reconciliation. Each of the Eucharistic Prayers speaks of the need for us to be more charitable, to reconcile with God and neighbor.  

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator