The Irresistible Call

As Jesus passed by,
he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post.
He said to him, “Follow me.”
And he got up and followed him.

The context of the gospel for today’s Feast of St. Matthew is one quite close to my heart. It is the message that God calls out to those who are in need of him, to the ones who are able to hear.

When I was a teenager, one of the things that troubled me most was my perceived failures. The passage for today was one that my mother, who always supported my desire to be a servant of the Lord, directed me toward. “It was not the righteous that Christ came to save,” she would tell me, “but the people who were able to recognize their need for a savior."

Over the years, and in the larger context of the reading, I have come to focus more on the nature of the call itself. Yes, undoubtedly I am still reminded of my need for a savior because of my failures—I suppose that fact will never change, but at least I am certain that God loves and accepts me despite my failures.

The call of the Lord appears to have power unto itself. We hear him say, “Akolouthei moi, follow me," and thus his voice falls on our ears as the irresistible call. The key to understanding has to do with our being open to hearing him.  Those things that would stand in the way must be set aside. I think because Jesus chose Matthew, the tax collector, one deemed to be a sinner, we may see God at work in a way that we would ordinarily not suppose; we see him in a way that goes against what presupposition tells us to look for in terms of what is the deepest reality.

Those things in which we find God, the places in our lives where we might hear him, are precisely where we are most likely to experience surprise—we find God in the places we would least expect. Truly when we are able to hear the call of our Lord as something irresistible, it is when we have suspended ordinary religious expectation.  In authenticity such suspension occurs due to life experiences, that is, it comes with genuiness and humility. The call of the Master is extraordinary. When we hear it, when we truly hear it, there is nothing left to do but follow.

Comments

[CSR]

"The call of the Lord appears to have power unto itself... The call of the Master is extraordinary. When we hear it, when we truly hear it, there is nothing left to do but follow."

Ahmen.

[Gabrielle]

I know this is true, deacon dan, but it makes me wonder, a little, why then do so many of us have so much trouble with discernment in various areas of our lives, and on an ongoing basis?