Mt 9: 9-13
As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
“Follow me.”
The encounter is brief.
Jesus sees.
Jesus invites.
Matthew accepts.
What did Jesus see in this tax collector? More importantly, what did Matthew see in Jesus? What possessed him to renounce a life of comfort and security, to trade it all away for a life of poverty and uncertainty? What promise did he see in Jesus’ eyes? What hope did he hear in Jesus’ voice? What compassion did he perceive in Jesus’ bearing? How did he explain this seemingly rash decision to friends, family, and loved ones? Following Jesus on the road, living the precarious life of a pilgrim, did he ever have second thoughts?
Jesus meets us in the ordinariness of our lives.
In the midst of all the busyness, how attentive are we to hearing his invitation, his voice?
How prepared are we to follow him – wherever he might lead?
—Douglas Gleber is the Director of Adult Faith Formation and Liturgy at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, IL.
Prayer
God of silence and God of all sound, help me to listen.
Help me to do the deep listening to the sounds of my soul,
waiting to hear your soft voice calling me deeper into you.
Give me attentive ears that begin to separate the noise from the sounds that are you;
you who have been speaking to me and through me my whole life,
for so long that you can seem like background noise.
Today help me hear you anew.
—Author Unknown