Daily Catholic Lectio
Sat, 13 January 2024
Saturday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
1 Samuel 9:1-4, 17-19, 10:1. Mark 2:13–17
Change of vocation
When God comes to choose us, our vocation, mission, and life change.
In the first reading, Saul, who came in search of his father’s donkeys, becomes the first king of Israel. And in the gospel reading, Levi (Matthew), son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax booth, becomes an apostle (and an evangelist).
These two events could be taken as vocation stories. Saul receives the vocation to be the king of Israel. Matthew is called to become an apostle for Christ. When Saul was preoccupied with his father’s business, Samuel encountered him. When Matthew was sitting at the tax booth, Jesus encountered him. Both will never return to their old professions. They respond to their calls at once. Both call stories are followed by meal celebrations. A meal is a symbol of happiness and contentment.
What are the lessons that we learn from these two vocation stories?
(a) Our God is the God of surprises. When he showers his graces upon us, we are not able to contain them; he makes our cups overflow.
(b) When God takes us away from the lower to the higher, we must be ready to give up on the lower. We can’t hold on to both. Saul has to give up the donkeys, and Matthew has to give up the tax booth.
(c) God, who calls us to greater mission and life, accompanies us even at home. God accompanies Saul through his anointing, and Jesus accompanies Matthew by taking sides with the sinners.
#
We march towards the Ordinary Jubilee A.D. 2025 with the motto ‘pilgrims of hope.’ Any journey entails hope. ‘That hope does not disappoint us. For God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us’ (cf. Rom 5:5). (Jubilee A.D. 2025, bite 8).
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
Missionary of Mercy
Yesu Karunanidhi 
Leave a comment