GOD DOES NOT CALL THE QUALIFIED, HE QUALIFIES THE CALLED ~ CookingFood.Org

“HONEY FROM THE ROCK”

Wednesday, 21st September 2016,

Twenty Fifth Week of Ordinary Time

Feast of the St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist

Eph 4:1-7, 11-13;

Ps 19:1-4;

Mt 9: 9-13

GOD DOES NOT CALL THE QUALIFIED, HE QUALIFIES THE CALLED

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Mathew, one of the twelve apostles. He was a tax collector and he was known as Levi. Here, he is called Matthew, which means gift of God or given by God. Like the first four who were called, Matthew, the tax collector, leaves everything that he has and follows Jesus. At the time of Jesus publicans and tax collectors were rejected as sinners by both the Jews and Gentiles. They had such a bad reputation that even the beggars refused to take alms from them. This is the cultural context in which Jesus calls Levi. This is the new revolutionary step Jesus takes to build the new family of God.

There are two things that we need to learn from Mathew. Firstly, he willingly accepted the call of Jesus. When God speaks, one may be tempted to reply, "Tomorrow; I'm not ready yet”. But Mathew immediately responded to the call of Jesus. Secondly, St. Matthew is called in the midst of the ordinary circumstances of his life, when he was busy with his profession. Jesus also called the first apostles, Peter and Andrew, James and John when they were busy with fishing. Today let us remember that we are all sinners yet loved by God and ask his strength and grace to live a life worthy of his calling.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us to respond to your call and proclaim the message of peace and love. Amen.