“If you hold back your foot on the sabbath from following your own pursuits on my holy day; If you call the sabbath a delight, and the Lord’s holy day honorable; If you honor it by not following your ways, seeking your own interests …. Then you shall delight in the Lord.” These words in scripture from the first reading for mass today, have a lot to do with the gospel as well. Saint Luke writes in today’s gospel, “Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him.
As most of us know, the tax collector named Levi became Saint Matthew. Saint Matthew made a very small decision at the time that ended up not only affecting his life, and the people of his time, but he made a choice that affected all of mankind in the future as well. Saint Matthew’s decision lives on into eternity and benefited not millions, but billions of people, bringing them eternal life through his written words. He had no idea what he was doing at the time. Saint Matthew made a small decision which grew into something way beyond his imagination or his understanding at the time.
Our choices matter. Our small decisions matter. There are a lot of people who believe they are an island unto themselves. They do whatever they want without regard for anyone else. People with this mindset will tell you, “it’s my life”, they are entitled to live it any way they want to. Or like like the words to one of Elvis Presley’s famous songs were, “I did it my way”. Beautiful song. Very emotionally moving. But this mindset can be destructive, sometimes self destructive. Success in this life can sometimes be fools gold with only surface beauty. It looks real pretty but isn’t real. Elvis Presley did love his mother and his wife and other people deeply too though. This is the real gold that lasts forever. Elvis’ gold records indicated his huge success as an entertainer, but his deep love for his mother, his wife, and his friends and family is what lives forever. His love for music lives forever. Elvis did not live a perfect life and was at times far from God, but he went on to record some of the most beautiful gospel hymns ever recorded. A part of him was hungry for God.
Levi the tax collector must have been hungry for God too. Something deep inside of him convinced him to get up and leave everything and follow Jesus. Christ alone can satisfy us. Not fame or fortune or temporal things in the world. We all have this craving that there must be something more to life. The older you get, the more you realize how short life really is and many people want to know, is this all there is to life? Even with a happy marriage, a wonderful loving family and a successful career, many people still have an empty spot inside of them that nothing seems to fill. They try to fill it with alcohol, food, more money, possessions, more success in their career or even a new romantic relationship, but nothing but God can ever fill that empty hole in our lives. We could save ourselves, and other people too, a lot of suffering if we ever recognize what we truly crave.
Levi the tax collector became Saint Matthew because he did recognize what was missing in his life, what he craved, or rather who he craved. He showed this to Jesus in the only way he knew how to at the time, when he first met Christ. He threw him a party, a great banquet, and invited all of his friends. With the limited knowledge and awareness of Christ of who he was at the time, Levi the tax collector honored him with the means at his disposal. Don’t you think Christ knew this? Jesus saw through his former sins and loved the goodness in his heart. Jesus was really good at this. It’s a shame we can’t be more like this for one another.
Daily Mass Readings:
Is 58: 9b-14 / Ps 86: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 / Lk 5: 27-32
