What are you searching for in life? - Daily Reflection July 6, 2018

HAS YOUR SEARCH LED YOU

TO JESUS?

What is the secret behind the success of the books Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl and The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren? These books hit the core of our being: our search for life’s meaning.

The Gospel says, “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” (v. 9). Why did Matthew, a rich influential man, a tax collector, immediately follow a carpenter, a stranger?

Matthew or Levi is a tax collector and a publican. Before you idolize him as a saint, Matthew was actually a public sinner hated by everyone. He and his fellow publicans managed the collection of port duties and oversaw public building projects.  They served as tax collectors for the Roman Empire. With a twist of public perception, Jesus called Matthew while working in his tax office.Though Matthew’s response was immediate, his conversion was a slow process.

As a tax collector, Matthew must have heard the wonderful things Jesus did. He must have seen all those who were healed. He must have been following Jesus from a distance. He must have witnessed the conversion of their chief tax collector, Zacchaeus. Then finally came the day when Jesus called him.

Matthew’s conversion was a gradual letting go, a slow process of  finding the meaning of his life. So when Jesus called him, Matthew was full of gratitude and determination. He immediately left his work and money, and followed Jesus. It was the day he had been waiting for so long.

Few of us are privileged to experience a dramatic conversion like St. Paul’s. For most of us, our conversion and discovery of the meaning of life are like Matthew’s — a gradual letting go, an imperceptible search for and realization of the meaning in our life. Have we really found the meaning and purpose of our life? Fr. Wen Amit, OCD

------- REFLECTION QUESTION -------

What are you searching for in life?

Dearest God, our life would have no meaning if we don’t have You in it. Amen.

Today, I pray for: _____________________________________

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