Feast Of St Matthew

Ephesians 4:1-7,11-13 ·
Matthew 9:9-13
As Jesus was passing by…

Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Matthew. He was called by Christ while making account as tax collector and after that encounter, his life was never the same. He serve God wholeheartedly and obey His commandments. At the end, he wrote a famous account about his master, that is, The gospel according to Matthew. God’s calling should make the call more available and attentive to God.

We all have sinned and failing short of the glory of God and the desire of our God is to pour out his saving grace and endless mercy upon those who listen to his call, in order for them to gain salvation. We must always recognize and attune ourselves to the mercy of our God who has brought us back from sickness to health, from unrighteousness to holiness and from being lost to being saved.

Jesus calls Matthew “to come follow me”.  Jesus calls all of us, young and old alike, to come follow Him.  The Pharisees question the disciples about Jesus’ behavior.  Jesus responds: ”Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”

So many of us can be self-righteous thinking all we have to do is go to mass on Sunday and we have done our duty.  However, Jesus’ words could be paraphrased I desire mercy and forgiveness not just participating in rituals as important as they are.  When I rise each morning do we hear the call of Jesus to Matthew: “Come follow me throughout your entire day.”

“Come follow me” embracing each person you meet,  each problem you solve, each meeting you attend or each child or elderly parent you care for is done with love and compassion. “Come Follow Me” is our vocation call.  Have you and I responded as St. Matthew did completely?  Lord, give us the strength and grace to respond to your call daily.

Fr Joseph Osho