Theme: God calls us from our nothingness. Are we ready to follow him?
Scripture reading: 1 Sam 9:1-4, 17-19; 10:1; Ps 21:2-3-4-5, 6-7; Mk 2:13-17
We find in today’s first reading, Saul, the son of Kish is called to be the first king of Israel. The first few lines of the reading gives us the background of Saul. He came from a wealthy and influential family from the tribe of Benjamin. He was tall and good looking. There was no one in Israel like Saul. Saul had family background and his appearance to be a king. What was missing and hiding in his description. God was missing in his life. He had no relationship with God. It is also said that he came from the tribe of Benjamin. The tribe of Benjamin had a notorious background. The tribe was wiped out by the other tribes in the battle of Gibeah (Judges 19-21). They had rapped a concubine of a Levite from Ephraim till she was found dead. Above also they wanted to sodomize the Levite but he offered them his concubine. Finding a dead body of his concubine, the Levite made twelve pieces of her body and sent them to all the tribes of Israel. This heinous act of Benjminites angered all the other tribes who took revenge and killed all the men, women and children leaving only 600 Benjminite. They also took vows not to marry them in future. Later, they made repented over wiping one of their tribes. We find God choses Saul, the Benjminite who did not have God in his life and was from the notorious tribe.
We find in the Gospel, Jesus calls Levi (Mathew), the tax collector. The tax collectors were looked down by the Jews as a traitors and extortionists because they worked for the Roman emperor and over charged taxes and kept the surplus amount for themselves. These tax collectors were debarred from the synagogues; they were not accepted as the witnesses, they and their families were treated badly in the society. Thus, the tax collectors were ex-communicated from the society. Jesus calls Levi from such background.
God calls Saul and Levi from their nothingness. He didn’t not see their background. He did not see their religiosity. He did not see their merits. God just calls. He calls us in very ordinary circumstances. Saul was looking out for his lost donkeys and Levi was sitting at the tax office. They were nothing in the eyes of their communities but they were precious in the eyes of God. God changed their lives. God calls you too. He calls you in ordinary circumstances. Are you ready to follow him?
Fr. Alex D’Mello
