Friday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

Jesus passed by, saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post (and) said to him,
“Follow me.” Matthew got up and followed him.

The Sacred Scriptures tell us that no one can come to Jesus except that he or she is drawn by the Father.
Today’s incident, the calling of St. Matthew, is a good example of this. We might argue that the look of Jesus at Matthew was crucial and that would be correct. But there is also Matthew’s heart to consider: ‘How am I, this tax collector and a sinner in the eyes of my fellow Jews, ready to desire what God holds out to me?’

Let’s apply this to ourselves. How am I disposing myself to receive God’s call, his deeper gift of love to work in my life? The answer is quite simple – I must pray and pray again, never ceasing to pray to the God of my heart.

Fr. Jean Lafrance, in his book Prayer of the Heart, puts it in these words: “One of the greatest graces a man may obtain in this world is to discover that, in the name of Jesus, he can integrate his whole existence, pray in all circumstances and be at ease everywhere.”

But I must want to pray! No matter what my circumstances, how down on myself, for example, I might be, I must want to lift up my heart to acknowledge God! And simply using the name, “Jesus”, is a good way to do this.

In her opening prayer at the Eucharist today, the Church prays:
O God, who through the grace of adoption chose us to be children of light, grant, we pray
that we may not be wrapped in the darkness of error but always be seen to stand in the bright light of truth.

We stand in “the bright light of truth” – the truth that we are called because we are loved by God!

Reflection by Fr. Xavier Nacke, OSB