rise to new life

Ephesians 4:1-7,11-13; Psalm 19 Their message goes out through all the earth; Mt 9:9-13


a poem to share entitled: Magnificat

O Lord, I did walk upon the earth
and my footprints did keep pace with the rain
and I did note, I did note where orange birds
flew up from the puddles thou hast made
and where the toads leapt from your trenches,
but nowhere was there that I could go
for I could not rise from the firmament
upon which I was placed, and nowhere could I
so I kept until I could no more straight
then bent said I am down to make room for the more
and you half hearing did send me down
into the soul of another by mistakes
and I would like to thank you for it
from where I lie, risen in the eye of the other.


I especially like the last line, "risen in the eye of the other."
It reminds me of the gospel in which we hear proclaimed throughout the church as we celebrate the feast of St. Matthew, the apostle and the evangelist.

If you open you bible today and read Matthew 9:9-13 you will encounter the call narrative of Martthew. Jesus, seeing matthew sitting at his post working, calls out to him, "follow me." And Matthew, "got up and followed him."

He rises from his post; he is risen in the eye of the other.

Are not all of us called to experience this awakening. The call itself is already the prefiguring of the resurrection, when we shall all arise. The word of Christ has that kind of power to bring about that kind of a dramatic turn about in one's life.

How many times have we heard stories of people who have experienced a calling from the Lord and find their life completely changed and headed in a new direction.

How often do they experience that "risen" reality that comes from hearing of God's call in their life?

This too is our fate, our destiny, what we are made for. We are made and created to be receivers of God's call, that word that impells us to rise. All of us must live out in our own life what Matthew experiences in his, to rise to a new life, to have a new horizon open up by simpling heeding the word that comes to us.

This is why Matthew writes his gosple. He doesn't want the word of God to fall deafly to earth, but rather he wants all to be given the opportunity to experience what he experienced and to be encouraged to rise and move forth in a new direction of living, living in the call received.

Notice that Matthew doesn't follow Jesus alone. Rather, his willingness to rise from his post and take a step in the new direction draws others to come and see as well for "many tax collectors and and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples."

It is Stephen King who said, "Alone. Yes, that's the key word, the most awful word in the English tongue. Murder doesn't hold a candle to it and hell is only a poor synonym."

Alone is no longer a word that has a place in the lives of those who have risen and taken a decisive step in the direction of that new life that only comes in Christ. One step in this new direction is an opening to a new kind of commuion.

Matthew leaves his post and embarks on a new life in a communion that is made by the word that issues forth.

Rise today! Take a new step in that decisive direction of surrender and trust. Be in step with Christ and never be alone again.