Posted by The WORD in other words (2006) by Fr Randy Flores SVD – Divine Word Seminary of Tagaytay
Saturday After Ash Wednesday – Lent
Image source : Wikimedia Commons
Notice the reaction of people called for a mission. St. Ambrose of Milan is said to have hidden himself when he learned that he is to become a bishop. Mahatma Gandhi fasted when he was called to protest for justice. Joseph Ratzinger, as reports say, “looked forlorn” when he was elected Pope. Cory Aquino retreated to a convent of Pink Sisters when she was being asked to run against Marcos.
In the Old Testament, the typical reaction to God’s call for mission is one of objection. The prophet Jeremiah objected by saying, “I am too young.” Gideon’s call to help Israel was met with a common complaint: “My family is poor.” Moses, the liberator of Israel, protested five times to God not to send him to such mission. His last objection is still heard today, “Send someone else” (Ex 4:13).
In today’s Gospel, we miss the familiar objection to a call. Jesus called Levi. Levi did not protest. Instead, “leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him.” The objection, rather, came from the Pharisees and Scribes who complained, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
When we feel inadequate to fulfill a God-given mission, we are being made to be aware that God’s grace outshines our human effort. This fact we see in the irony of the first reading: When God calls, human being objects; but when human being calls, God answers (Is 58:9).
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