Follow Me

Readings for July 2, 2010

First Reading: Amos 8:4-6, 9-12
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 119
Gospel: Matthew 9:9-13


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. 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." (Mt 9:9-13)

Imagine you are sitting at work one day, and someone who you've never even seen before walks by your cubicle and says, "Come, follow me." Now even though you've never met this man before, there is authority in his voice, and your heart is screaming on the inside, "GET UP AND GO!" So without much delay, you get up and follow this man. Now it is this exact same scenario that actually happened to Matthew. In today's gospel, Jesus walks by and simply says to him, "follow me." Matthew, without question or hesitation gets up and follows Christ. We can only imagine what Matthew must have been going through his head, or what he must have been feeling at that moment. While we may not know what he was experiencing, we do know that his life was forever changed at that moment.

The words that Jesus spoke to Matthew are the same that He is speaking to us each and every day ... "follow me." He is calling out to each of us, the question is will we get up and go or will we stay behind in the comfort of what we know? Will we be afraid, or will we trust. By trusting in Jesus, Matthew went on to become an apostle of the Church, he wrote one of the Gospels, and became a saint who resides in heaven with the Lord. Just think if he hadn't gotten up and followed Christ when he was called, those other things might have never come.

Our goal in life should be to get to heaven, and the only way to get there is by following Christ. He is here, calling out to each of us, are you ready to get up and go?

Father above, we thank you and praise you for the gift of this day. Lord, thank you for your many blessings in our life, thank you for your great love and mercy. Lord, we praise you for all that we have and all that we are, let us never take advantage of our lives. May we seek to follow your will and to always love as you love. Lord, you are our God, we are your people, help us to never forget this important truth. We ask this all through Christ our Lord. Amen.