Happy Feast of St. Matthew – where were you when Jesus called?

Having a husband named Matthew, along with a son, a brother and a nephew named Matthew and another nephew named Levi, I have a real fondness for this name. But more than that, I love the simplicity of Matthew’s call and his response to Jesus’ request to “Follow me!”

Matthew 9:9-13, tells us he was there at the custom post (at his work) when Jesus called and he answered. It seems Matthew even had a party to celebrate his new job as apostle, “he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples.”

This seems the perfect day to ponder where you were when Jesus called you. For so many of us, we were called first as infants, at our baptism. And, while being a cradle Catholic is a profound gift; we all have a time in our life when Jesus called us again, when we were old enough to answer for ourselves.

For some, it really was at their Confirmation when they took on the mantle of being ‘an adult in their faith’. But, for others it came later, and for most of us it has come again and again. With each of those calls from Christ, we have deepened our walk with Him.

I was baptized and confirmed in a small town in the Finger Lakes area of New York but also count a field in PA, in a town I cannot remember, at a Christian music festival whose name is long forgotten as one of my early moments. Just like in a cheesy Christian movie, I heard Jesus’ voice in my heart and I answered, ‘yes’.

But, I also call Steubenville, Ohio and Tampa, Florida among my own ‘custom posts’. There is Baltimore, MD for my first years of parenthood, and for the past 20+ years, Elkton, MD. Jesus continues to call me onward and upward to follow Him more closely and with greater intention.

What does your map look like? Where are your custom posts? Take a moment to give praise and glory to God for His mercy and love for these real geographical places where He was present before you. He called your name and you said, “Yes!”. May St. Matthew inspire all of us to follow as he did, until the very end of our days.