Daily Reflections - January 14, 2012

FOLLOW ME

Levi, the son of Alpheus, was a tax collector. He was renamed Matthew, which is Greek for “Gift of God.” What a gift of God Levi came to be! He answered the call of Jesus to follow Him in a radical way, leaving everything behind. I remember serving in a parish under the patronage of St. Matthew. At the front of the church is a life-size statue of St. Matthew. The tax collector is holding the Bible in his arms. What is moving about the image are the coins being trampled underfoot by the saintly Matthew. It reveals a man captured by the love of Jesus, willing to give all to follow Him. His feast day is September 21.
Mark tells us that at the call of Jesus, Levi got up and followed Him. Where did he go? What did he do? Why did he get up and follow Jesus? Sitting at the customs house was a good position. Levi could see everyone coming into town. He was quick to grab their money on their entrance, a necessity for those under Roman rule. The Romans needed something to keep their meals on the table. The taxes were just one of many forms of corruption held by the government of the day. Levi was despised because of his occupation which lent itself to fraud and selfish gain. Levi probably had seen Jesus and His disciples passing through many times.
Something captured and fulfilled the heart of Levi that day. Perhaps sitting at the customs post gave him much time to ponder his future. He was not happy being an outcast, but this was his lot. However, at the call of Jesus, his life would never be the same again. To follow was to imitate, and Matthew did that. Tradition tells us that Matthew died a martyr.
We are called to follow and imitate Jesus. Let us be eager to follow Him, not looking back at what we have given up but what we could gain. Pope Benedict says that in giving Jesus everything, He gives everything to us. And in the words of the late Pope John Paul II, let us “open wide the doors to Christ.” Fr. Brian Steele, MGL

REFLECTION QUESTION: What is the “customs house” you must leave behind in order to follow Jesus? Have courage to stand up and follow Jesus.

Lord, I rejoice that You call me to follow You. Give me grace to let go of everything in order to follow You, my strength and my joy. Amen.