Reflection for WEDNESDAY, St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist.
By
Fr. Aloysius Santiago sdb
Director, Social Action Movement, Don Bosco Bidar
Today's Word of God
Matthew 9:9-13
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him .
While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Today's Reflection
Have we ever wondered what were the thoughts that crossed the mind of St. Matthew as he got up from the customs house to follow Jesus?
Is it the uncertainty of abandoning a stable and profitable job, although it is not a respectable one?
Or is it the apprehension that from that moment on, things are not going to be the same anymore?
But over and above all these thoughts is the great up-lifting feeling that someone had given him respect, dignity and self-worth.
In Jesus, St. Matthew saw the mercy and love of God, who came not to call the virtuous, but sinners.
What St. Matthew saw in Jesus, he too wanted to emulate.
That is also what the 1st reading is telling us : that united in faith and knowledge of the Son of God, we strive to be the Perfect Man, fully mature with the fullness of Christ.
Jesus showed St. Matthew who and what he can become.
In turn, St. Matthew showed us in his gospel who and what we can become.
As the call of Jesus crosses and echoes in our hearts, let us answer the call like St. Matthew.
Because it is a call to the fullness of Christ Himself.
GOD BLESS YOU
Good morning. Have a nice day.
HAPPY FEAST OF ST. MATHEW