Monday 9/21/2020 Live Stream Mass at St. Monica Catholic Church

Thank you for joining the St. Monica’s Live Stream Mass for Monday 9/21/2020, Feast of Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist

Readings for Monday 9/21/2020

Reading 1

Brothers and sisters:
I, a prisoner for the Lord,
urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another through love,
striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit
through the bond of peace:
one Body and one Spirit,
as you were also called to the one hope of your call;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all.

But grace was given to each of us
according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

And he gave some as Apostles, others as prophets,
others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers,
to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry,
for building up the Body of Christ,
until we all attain to the unity of faith
and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,
to the extent of the full stature of Christ.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 19:2-3, 4-5

R. (5) Their message goes out through all the earth.
The heavens declare the glory of God;
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day pours out the word to day,
and night to night imparts knowledge.
R. Their message goes out through all the earth.
Not a word nor a discourse
whose voice is not heard;
Through all the earth their voice resounds,
and to the ends of the world, their message.
R. Their message goes out through all the earth.

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
We praise you, O God,
we acclaim you as Lord;
the glorious company of Apostles praise you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

MT 9:9-13

As Jesus passed by,
he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post.
He said to him, “Follow me.”
And he got up and followed him.
While he was at table in his house,
many tax collectors and sinners came
and sat with Jesus and his disciples.
The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples,
“Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
He heard this and said,
“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.
Go and learn the meaning of the words,
I desire mercy, not sacrifice.
I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

Responding to the Call

As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. Matthew 9:9

St. Matthew was a wealthy and “important” man in his day and age. As a tax collector, he was also disliked by many of the Jews. But he showed himself to be a good man by His immediate response to Jesus’ call.

We do not have many details to this story, but we have the details that matter. We see that Matthew is at work collecting taxes. We see that Jesus simply walks by him and calls him. And we see that Matthew immediately gets up, abandons everything, and follows Jesus. This is quite a conversion.

For most people, this sort of immediate response would not happen. Most people would have to first get to know Jesus, be convinced by Him, talk to their family and friends, think, ponder and then decide if following Jesus was a good idea. Most people go through a long rationalizing of God’s will before responding to it. Is that you?

Every day God is calling us. Every day He calls us to serve Him radically and completely in one way or another. And every day we have an opportunity to respond just as Matthew did. The key is to have two essential qualities. First, we must recognize the voice of Jesus clearly and unmistakably. We must, in faith, know what He says to us when He says it. Secondly, we must be certain that whatever Jesus calls or inspires us to do is worth it. If we can perfect these two qualities we will be in a position to imitate the quick and total response of St. Matthew.

Reflect, today, upon your willingness to imitate this Apostle. What do you say and do when God calls each day? Where you see a lacking, recommit yourself to a more radical following of Christ. You will not regret it.

Lord, may I hear You speak and respond to You wholeheartedly every time. May I follow You wherever You lead. Jesus, I trust in You.

Source of content: mycatholic.life