Readings and meditations for September 21, 2009
Feast of Saint Matthew
Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-13
Psalm 19:2-3, 4-5
Matthew 9:9-13
In the first reading from Ephesians we are challenged to look at others from the oneness we have attained from one baptism, one faith, and one Lord, rather than looking at the gulf or divide that is created by our different roles. We really are more the same than different. Instead we compare material riches, number of cars, successes, race, background, friendships, and so on. Our false perceptions and attitudes create a false barrier, which hinders the building up of the Body of Christ.
I am always amazed at the "strange" people Jesus publicly invited into His company and service. They were not the smartest, the wealthiest, or even the most physically appealing; but nevertheless, they were seen as pivotal characters in salvation history.
Did they know or sense the importance of their role? We might guess that a couple of them (Peter and John, for instance) might have had some inkling, but surely not full knowledge of the impact their witness to Jesus was to have.
Consider Matthew
Jesus was strolling by some tax collectors and various evildoers one day and turned to one of them and said, "Follow me." And Matthew got up from what he was doing, presumably retiring from the position forever and started to follow Jesus. Then a meal with “many tax collectors and sinners” becomes the occasion for Jesus to define his mission.
Over the objection of the Pharisees to such a gathering, Jesus portrays himself as a physician come to care for the sick and colors in this portrait with the pointed remark, “I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
The implication, of course, is that the Pharisees were self-righteous and so they were not capable of responding to Jesus’ call to repentance. In their own eyes, they had no need for a savior because they became “right with God” through their own efforts. No need for the doctor here!
How much of our daily energy goes into trying to make ourselves “right with God?” Like avoiding a visit to the doctor’s office when we are ill (often devising our own treatments), we seem to avoid the Divine Physician as well. How different is the attitude of the great saints who know ever more deeply their need for God for the slightest good activity of each day! We think of a St. Therese who delighted in her own faults and weaknesses as places which would “draw” the love of God toward her in her littleness.
Matthew was a man reviled by all, a man, in all likelihood, mired in sin and in the exploitation of the poor and powerless; in short, a man who had it made in the ancient world. But such was the power of the voice of Christ; such was the joy of the service of Jesus that at one word from Him, this man was willing to give up everything.
We should recall this each time we drag our feet in one form of service or another. Each time the Lord asks us to smile at someone, speak to someone, have coffee with someone, feed someone, help in any way that lies within our power -- we should recall this man who gave up all to follow Jesus. He gave it up at a word and left all to be with Jesus. So, surely we can follow with a service less drastic, with a task much less onerous. Surely when we remember what the great saints and apostles sacrificed for us, we can afford the little sacrifice of some of our time.
What about us?
Like the apostles, we too have been singled out to have a role in furthering the Kingdom of God. What part we are intended to play may be hidden not only from us, but also from others. It is, with certainty, a role that God has equipped us well to play. May we then, like Matthew, accept the invitation of Christ who calls us to be His friend, His evangelist, to spread the Good News.
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