Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - Recently we celebrated the feast of Saint Matthew the evangelist. In the light of God's infinite mercy, Matthew himself narrates the unforgettable event of his calling to follow Jesus: “As Jesus was walking on from there he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, 'Follow me.' And he got up and followed him. Now while he was at table in the house it happened that a number of tax collectors and sinners came to sit at the table with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, 'Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?' When he heard this he replied, 'It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. Go and learn the meaning of the words: Mercy is what pleases me, not sacrifice. And indeed I came to call not the upright, but sinners.' ” (Mt 9, 9-13).
Matthew's immediate readiness to follow Jesus is a sign first of all of the power of Divine mercy but secondly of the sinner's capacity to accept forgiveness and to accept the sublime, radical call, to follow Christ, that it to strive to imitate Him!
A life marked by an encounter with God's mercy undergoes a total change, a change which the Gospel calls 'conversion'. When we open our hearts to the Lord in truth and humility, we embark on a journey of transformation, a journey which changes in our way of thinking and our attitude of heart, as the power of Christ's forgiveness enters our soul renewing it with His goodness.
When ordinary persons, such as Matthew and like us, with all their sinfulness and failings, trust in Jesus, they are able to 'leave everything' to follow Him.
Matthew, known as Levi the publican, the fishermen of Galilee and the others whom Jesus called to walk with Him, certainly never imagined how friendship with Christ would transform their lives and render them examples of holiness for future generations.
The power of Jesus' grace is unlimited! He can do everything if we sinners allow ourselves to be embraced and involved by His divine mercy, just as it happened for Andrew, John, Simon Peter, Philip, Bartholomew Thomas, Matthew…
For Christians it is fascinating to reread the calling of the Apostles. The Gospels testify to the radical response of those men: “they left everything” (Lc 5, 11) to follow Him.
We have an eloquent comment written by the venerable Bede on Matthew's response: “There is no reason for surprise that the tax collector abandoned earthly wealth as soon as the Lord commanded him. Nor should one be amazed that neglecting his wealth, he joined a band of men whose leader had, on Matthew’s assessment, no riches at all. Our Lord summoned Matthew by speaking to him in words. By an invisible, interior impulse flooding his mind with the light of grace, he instructed him to walk in his footsteps. In this way Matthew could understand that Christ, who was summoning him away from earthly possessions, had incorruptible treasures of heaven in his gift. (…)On hearing Christ’s voice, we open the door to receive him, as it were, when we freely assent to his promptings and when we give ourselves over to doing what must be done. Christ, since he dwells in the hearts of his chosen ones through the grace of his love, enters so that he might eat with us and we with him. He ever refreshes us by the light of his presence” (cfr. Office of Readings for the feast of St Matthew).
Matthew, a “public” sinner, is sitting at his tax collection desk as usual. As Jesus walks past the poor man, who represents all of us, deeply touched by the grace which radiates from the Person of the Saviour and hearing the words, “come follow me”, experiences forgiveness, “pardon”, “rebirth”, a call to embark on a new life, to make a fresh start.
The Holy Father Benedict XVI, following his venerated Predecessor, the Servant of God, John Paul II, reminds us that trust in divine mercy is an opportunity “to make a fresh start”, however we too must be ready to forgive others.
“The Spirit of Jesus Christ is the power of forgiveness. He is the power of Divine Mercy. He makes it possible to start all over again - ever anew. The friendship of Jesus Christ is the friendship of the One who makes us people who forgive, the One who also forgives us, raises us ceaselessly from our weakness and in this very way educates us, instils in us an awareness of the inner duty of love, of the duty to respond with our faithfulness to his trust. (…) God's mercy accompanies us daily. To be able to perceive his mercy it suffices to have a heart that is alert. We are excessively inclined to notice only the daily effort that has been imposed upon us as children of Adam. If, however, we open our hearts, then as well as immersing ourselves in them we can be constantly aware of how good God is to us; how he thinks of us precisely in little things, thus helping us to achieve important ones.” (Benedict XVI, homily on the 2nd Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday», 15 April 2007). (Agenzia Fides 25/9/2009; righe 66, parole 842)
