He has the best for us.

The sea in the biblical texts is synonymous with chaos, uncertainty, and the passage of the gospel that we are invited to meditate on today, Jesus goes to the edge of the sea. What does that tell us? What Jesus wants in the midst of uncertainties, is for us to learn from Him.

When Jesus calls the multitude to learn, His purpose is to give instructions to those people to take them home and put them into practice. It was never God’s will that we simply listen to, or even know, verses by heart, His will is that we take His teachings and apply them in our daily lives.

God does not choose us for our history

God does not call us by our history, by our difficulties and limitations, He chooses us, by seeing in us, a potential that even we ourselves are not able to see. God does not call the qualified, God enables those to whom he calls.

When Jesus called St. Matthew, he worked as a tax collector, someone rejected by Jewish society: a traitor. Jesus looked at Matthew and saw far beyond this, when He extended his invitation to the tax collector, His calling, no matter with criticism, He had a purpose for St. Matthew.

Attitude that makes the difference
More interesting is the attitude of St. Matthew. He did not ask for time to settle his accounts, to say goodbye, he simply accepted the call and followed Christ. So we must do, if we think much of the things of this world, we will not have the courage to embrace the things of Heaven.

Jesus saw in Matthew the evangelist what he could be, so he called him. He went into his house and was with him, even though he knew that society was rejecting him. He loves to take what is rejected by society, to transform it and put it in place of honor.

Humility is the beginning

Recognizing yourself as a sinner, devoid of the action of divine grace, is the initial step toward God’s work in your life. Only having the humility to acknowledge one’s limitation is that we give God freedom to carry out his work in us, doing with us what he desires.

May we always be willing to let Him perfect us, and accomplish in us that which He wants from us, enabling and transforming us. May we be used and not only have knowledge of the Word,  but that we are willing to practice it every day.

Fr. Chrystian Shanker