The Call

 

Matthew 9: 9-13 

Jesus Calls Matthew

⁹ As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

¹⁰ And as Jesus^[a] reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. ¹¹ And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹² But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

In this Topsy-turfy, violent, materialistic, increasingly or Godless world Jesus continues to call people to follow him more closely, even, as in the case of Matthew, to leave all to do so. June was the month of ordinations to the priesthood, and thank God, some dioceses saw an increase, but there is still a huge gap in the ranks and more priests are needed.  The Diocese of Massillon, Ohio, for example,  is reducing the number of Sunday Masses because of the priest (and people) shortage. It's time to look at where we are going and more directly to listen to what God is calling me to do. If I can't "join up" myself, I can join the callers, and pose "the question" to good young men about their call.  We can all salt these recruiting efforts with prayer. Dear God, open ears and hearts to hear your call: "Follow me."

Bro. Rene