meditation
The Gospel according to Matthew. (Read by Deacon Mike Kelly)
As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post and he said to him, follow me and he got up and followed him. And while he was at table at his house many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. The Pharisees saw this and said to the disciples, why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus heard this and said, those who are well do not need a physician but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words I desire such mercy not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.
Fr. Mike Conway's homily on the feast of St. Matthew.
The Call of Matthew
The call of Matthew is one of my favorite scenes in all of scripture. There's so much to reflect on and of course Matthew's version is a little bit pared down because, well, he doesn't want to make himself look that bad but I don't think he can look bad in this.
It's just that this powerful beautiful story that when Jesus says follow him, follow me, Matthew gets up and he immediately follows him and he has every reason in the world not to. He's working at the customs post. He's a tax collector and he sold out his own people to work for the Romans and if that's not bad enough the Romans don't pay you that well so if you're going to make a living doing this you have to cheat and extort the people. It was kind of this wind down tradition that as long as Caesar gets his share you don't care what else you do. So Matthew has to make a living here and so he's cheating his own people. He's a sell out like twice over so everybody hates him. He has no friends. His family has probably cut ties with him.
And Jesus stops and says follow me. Matthew has to be thinking you're crazy why would I follow you why would you want me to follow you. You know what they say about me. If you know what I do, I'm the last person that should follow you. Yeah that's all Jesus says, it's follow me.
Matthew has the courage to get up and follow after him and it's this beautiful testimony to Matthew's faith. It's a beautiful testimony to the mercy of God that Matthews sins are not the things that define him but rather the new identity the Christ is conferring upon him by calling him to be a disciple. That's what defines Matthew. That God's mercy is greater than any of our sins but I think the other beautiful thing about this is how Jesus calls it, He stops and looks at him and he says follow me. He doesn't stop and look at him and say Matthew, follow me but before you do that, I need you to complete a certain amount of credit hours in theology. Matthew, follow me but before you do I need you to go back through the books and make recompense to all the people that you cheated. Matthew, follow me but first give two weeks of this to the Roman governor let him know that you're quitting. Matthew, follow me but first do this first thing. And he doesn't say any of those things and he's never said any of those things to anyone that he's ever called but we're really good at making that excuse. Well Lord I would do what I think you're asking of me, but you know I'm really unqualified so first I have to do this, or I have to do that or since I don't have that prerequisite Lord I just I can't. I am going to pass. Thanks maybe you can give the next guy to do it.
Jesus just says follow me and doesn't care what you're qualified for. He doesn't care what you've done. He's just interested in leading you to somewhere better. He's interested in leading you towards the Kingdom.
Everyone wants to know what path that's going to take. Everyone wants to know what that's going to look like. We like to be in control. I get it but you're not in control. You never were. This isn't about you. This is about Jesus and so if you follow him you're going to go down some roads and places that you didn't expect to go. It's going to be bumpy. Sometimes it's going to be unpleasant. It's going to wind up in heaven. So it's worth it to follow him.
Abraham was very insistent in the first reading, "never
take my son back there, back to my homeland back, to that place that God led me
out of, I want you to go and take him somewhere new". You can't take him back to
where he was and Jesus doesn't want us to stay where we are either he wants us
to follow him. God is all about leading us to new places because he is
eventually going to lead us back to himself. So this morning as we prepare to
receive Jesus in the Eucharist it's simply worth reflecting on how well we do it, following Him. How many excuses have we made to not follow him. How many times
have we procrastinated doing what he has put on our hearts. How many times have
we tried to run back to our places of sin, to the places that were comfortable, to the places that we were never meant to be. Ask our Lord to fill us with
courage and strength this morning that like Matthew we can just stand up and
follow him and let's do the work of building up his Kingdom here on earth until
the day comes that we are happy with him and the Kingdom of
Prayer
Almighty God, who gives strength to the weak and upholds those who might fall, give me courage to do what is right, for those that trust in you have no need to fear.
Make be brave to face any danger which may now threaten me. Give me the help that you have promised to those who ask it, that I may overcome my fears and go bravely forward.
Fill me with courage, that nothing which is my duty to do, may be too hard for me. Let me put my trust in your power and goodness. Thank you my Lord. Amen.
Almighty God,
You reach into the darkness with hope, truth and light. Stretch out your strong hand in this situation, hold and rescue those who have suffered. Let your almighty love move mountains, cross seas and breathe life into the darkest places.
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