(Lk 5: 1-11, 27-32)
The first thing that strikes me in my second reflection on this passage is the different ways in which Jesus calls us. In the first section, the fishermen are stunned by what Jesus does before he calls them to follow him. First they hear his teaching, then the magnitude of their catch, after they had fished all night without success, astonishes them. In a way, it seems unsurprising that they should follow after such a turn of events. Yet it is clear that they are looking for something other than blessings upon their livelihood, for they leave that behind in order to follow Jesus. But Matthew - er, Levi - is simply sitting at the tax office. Perhaps it is nothing more than Jesus' willingness to have even a tax collector - shunned by almost everyone - as a follower which draws Levi in. Again, whatever it was, his life wasn't going to be business as usual, either.
The second thing that stands out is that, regardless of the specifics of how Jesus calls us, it is still up to each of us to choose to respond, to follow even though it may require radical changes to how we make our decisions and live our lives.
I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (32) Were there any righteous, they would have no need of repentance, nothing that could serve as visible evidence that Jesus has entered their lives and made radical changes there. The repentance of the sinner is the testimony to those on the outside that something wondrous has taken place in this person's life.
I wonder what evidence I present for others to see.
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