MY daily reflection and prayer:
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Feast of Saint Matthew, Apostle and evangelist
Dear my friends,
Here is the Gospel for us today according to St. Matthew 9:9-13
As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” He heard this and said, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.
***
Today is Feast of Saint Matthew, Apostle and evangelist. When Jesus Christ called him, St. Matthew was a tax collector. At the time, the tax collectors were considered traitors of the Jewish people since they were working for the Romans, the “oppressors” of God’s chosen people.
Amazingly that Jesus Christ said to him, “Follow me.” Surprisingly, Matthew got up and followed him immediately, no questions asked, no conditions. He didn’t sit down to calculate, he only accepted. I think, he didn’t know that Jesus Christ was going to make him one of the Twelve of the Apostles.
Responding positively Jesus calling, Matthew then went a step further. He invited Jesus Christ to his house for dinner. In the context of Jewish cultural that a Jew generally invited only his true and closest friends and relatives to dinner; so it was a sign of intimacy, friendship and love between Matthew and Jesus Christ. Imagine how beautiful that Matthew went overboard and laid out the red carpet for Jesus Christ in his life.
In fact, Perpetual Adoration of the Eucharist is the best way of our response to Jesus calling to follow him. There we learn from St. Matthew to go overboard and to lay out the red carpet for Jesus Christ in our life. Do we positively and immediately respond Jesus calling?
Let’s pray: Lord Jesus Christ, we want to be a simple person in accepting you. Help us to trust in you without calculations and complications through Perpetual Adoration of the Eucharist now and forever. Amen.
Kredit foto: Ilustrasi (Ist)
