Today’s Readings:
Ephesians 4:1-7,11-13
Psalm 19:2-5
Matthew 9:9-13
What will make a rich and comfortable tax collector abandon his money-making-machine and follow a poor itinerant preacher? It is simply the fact that the tax collector saw someone he did not know would rate him, look into his eyes with love and mercy, looked deep into his soul and saw what he is capable of and then said, “Come, I need you”. A lot of us miss this encounter in our Christian journey. We forget that God has created us with gifts and a unique purpose. Our purpose drives us and renews our strength every morning. And when we see how our purpose can be utilized, we run with it each day without giving up.
Saint Matthew moved because Jesus gave him the impetus to do so. He moved even further by becoming a human connector in place of simply being a tax collector. He embraced a bigger responsibility of connecting people to God’s blessings and abandoned his job of collecting money for himself and the Roman authorities. Saint Bede the Venerable says about Saint Matthew:
“No sooner was he converted than Matthew drew after him a whole crowd of sinners along the same road to salvation. He took up his appointed duties while still taking his first steps in the faith, and from that hour he fulfilled his obligation and thus grew in merit.”
Do you see yourself as a collector or a connector. A collector is concerned about what he or she can get. A connector links people to God’s blessings. Here are some tips on how to connect people to divine blessings:
• Know Your gift(s) – Are you an apostle (sent to call others to God), a prophet (speaks God’s word), an evangelist (inspires and edifies others through artistic expressions), a pastor (exhibiting leadership traits), a teacher (to instruct the ignorant about the faith)?
• Be a source of unity – Connectors work to bring people together by fostering effective communication and avoiding gossip and slander.
• Give good example – Live in such a way that others are inspired by your life to be Christian and saintly in their manner of life.
• Strive for true maturity – Not so that you use your talent to create “adult content” which are suggestive of or promote violence, sex or profanity. Rather, channel your strength to create content that edifies, enriches and saves souls. This is truly maturity.
• Connect your community – As Saint Matthew brought his fellow tax collectors to meet Jesus, you alone can introduce the people in your circle of friends to Jesus. It is your responsibility—no one else will do it.
• Start where you are – if you are faithful to Christ even in small things, you will rise to even greater ones.
Remember always that God has made you a connector. Who are you connecting to Jesus?
JUDE MARY OWOH
Prayer:
I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.
Every day will I bless thee, and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.
Lord Jesus Christ, I open the doors of my heart to you this new day. Come and make Your home with me and dine with me.
Through the power of Your grace in me, may I use my gifts and talents to connect others to you today and always.
My life shall exhibit the power of God, in the name of Jesus.
Father put in the lives of our children, youths and young adults, the thirst and hunger for Your love and Your word, in Jesus name.
We challenge and pull down the stronghold of forces of disobedience in the life of the saints, in Jesus name.
We pull down the stronghold of forces of darkness hindering the move of the power of God in our nation and we render them impotent, in Jesus name.
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