[1]“When the student is ready, the master will appear.” It’s a quote Judy often uses on men discerning their call to the permanent diaconate, I’ve used it numerous times myself. Both the origin and context of this quote are somewhat obscure and open to both interpretation and nuance that changes over time. When I first heard this quote years ago, I took it quite literally. Thinking of it along the lines of, “When I mastered a certain skill level, I’d need to find the right teacher.”
Lately, I’ve been thinking about how I learn things, how much and to what extent I really pay attention, or maybe I should say, it’s more about when I learn new things. It’s interesting how we can be presented repeatedly with the same content, but fail to grasp many aspects until some later date. It’s all a matter of where we are at any given time and what we are open to understanding or accepting.[2]
Abraham’s wife, Sarah, died after a long life. A life likely filled with many challenges and blessings, moments of human weakness and of faith. The longevity of her marriage to Abraham reminds us that relationships take communication, commitment, humility, and sacrifice. This applies to our relationship with God, as well.
Today’s Gospel, is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the experience of being called to follow Christ and our response to humbly commit to that call. When Jesus said to Matthew, “Follow me,” he immediately got up and did just that. In Greek, the name Matthew means “learner” or “disciple.”
Ironically, the Pharisees address Jesus as “teacher,” but they appear unready or unwilling to learn from him nor follow him. Therefore, it’s difficult to imagine that these leaders, who are “teachers” of the Law themselves, would risk their own scandal by putting themselves in close enough contact to converse with Jesus as he shared a meal with “tax collectors and sinners.”
From Matthew’s call, we learn that God doesn’t seek perfect followers; he seeks very human, imperfect ones—just like us. God seeks those willing to act, to step outside our comfort zones to reach out to the poor and marginalized people with love and joy.[3]
God doesn’t need disgruntled or resentful followers, nor does He need death dealing followers who judge and reject the sinner. He needs and wants disciples, learners, to be full of joy and mercy, willing to be in a lasting relationship with Him, who is the teacher, and humbly commit to carrying out his work in a world where people are desperately need of both joy and mercy. The teacher is ever present; are we, the student, ready and willing to learn?
No comments:
Post a Comment