Posted by The WORD in other words (2006) by Fr Bel San Luis SVD – Christ the King Seminary, Quezon City
Saturday 1st Week of Ordinary Time
During the American Civil War, a true story was told about a soldier who was caught sleeping on duty. For that, he was sentenced to death.
When Pres. Abraham Lincoln heard about it, he himself talked with the guard and ordered that the penalty be commuted.
His generals complained. Because of the compassion of the president, the soldier did his best from then on, and proved to be an exceptionally diligent, conscientious soldier.
The story of the soldier may well be a modern-day story of Levi or Matthew, the tax collector, related in the Gospel of today.
As a tax collector, Matthew was hated by his own countrymen because he was selling his services to the Roman colonizers to collect taxes and, in the process, was making kickbacks.
In the eyes of a good Jew, Matthew had already made a mess of his life. Jesus was well aware of this and yet he was willing to give him a second chance by inviting him to follow him.
The Jews were scandalized, saying to his disciples, “Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Matthew 9,11).
Hearing this, Jesus replied, “It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick.”
In one way or another, we are like Matthew or that soldier who was sleeping on the job. We’ve all made mistakes. Leading a carefree life, perhaps we dropped out from school, or lost a good job because of drinking, or messed up our marriage and family.
Whatever it may be, the Lord gives us all the chances to start again. He sees us for what we are in terms of our past foolishness, but he also sees what we can become in terms of our future possibilities.
Sometimes he invites us by allowing us to fall in an “awkward” situation, a personal crisis, like an accident, an economic failure or the death of a loved one.
In these circumstances, the Lord always finds a way to give us another chance. Do we recognize God’s constant call in the events of our life? And more importantly, heed that call?
Are you not happy that it is a compassionate God who will judge us and not someone who will not give a second or more chances to start afresh?
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