Daily Gospel Reflection

Answer God’s Call Today

I'm Matthew Kelly, and welcome back to today's Gospel, where we are exploring the radical and relevant nature of Jesus' life and teachings presented to us each day in the Gospel. When I was in high school, I had a fantastic teacher, Mr. Wade. He taught me many, many things. But one of the things he taught me was never delay in doing things that you know you need to get done. He always tries to only touch things once. He always tries to only do things once rather than saying, "Okay, I'll do this later. I'll do this later. I'll put it on the list. I'll do it later."

And this is the lesson in today's Gospel. It's a really powerful lesson. Jesus went out again beside the sea, and all the crowds gathered about him, and he taught them. And as he passed, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax office. And he said to him, "Follow me," and he rose and followed him. And as he sat at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners were sitting with Jesus and His disciples, for there were many who followed Him.

And the scribes, the Pharisees, when they saw that He was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to His disciples, "Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?" And when Jesus heard this, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous but sinners." So there's so many things, again, always in these Gospels. We're looking for a word or a phrase or an idea and a virtue so we can focus our day and allow the Gospel to sink its roots deep into our lives.

One that struck me here today is about the call of Matthew, Levi. Jesus says to him, "Follow me." Two words, "Follow me." What does the Gospel say? So Matthew sat around and thought about it for a few days, and then he talked to his friends about it and consulted some life coaches and-- oh, all it says is this, "He got up and followed him." He got up and followed him. His response was immediate. It wasn't, "Okay, let me think about it." His response was immediate. God's going to call you today. He's going to call you to do things, little things, maybe big things, but God is going to call you to do things today.

Let's not hesitate. When God calls us to do something today, let's do it. Let's do it without hesitation, step up to it and step into it. That's the radical invitation in the Gospel today. God bless you. Have an amazing day. And remember, don't just be yourself. Be the very best version of yourself, all that God created you to be.