Friday of the
Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
(Ephesians 4:1-6; Luke 12:54-59)
In a remarkable painting the seventeenth century artist Caravaggio
depicts Jesus calling Levi, the tax collector.
Light streams from behind Jesus to expose a look of complete surprise on
the tax collector’s face. Jesus points
to Levi with his hand reminiscent of God’s on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. A new creation is taking place. Levi is being
called to become a new man. Meanwhile he
points his own finger at himself as if to say, “Me? You must be kidding.”
As Jesus calls the tax collector to follow him, he beckons
each of us. Like Levi, we may be
astounded by the summons. “Am I
fortunate or deluded?” we ask ourselves.
“Does it mean that I have to give up everything?” we worry. The reading from Ephesians today does not
demur in impressing on us the reality of the call. It also reminds us of the burden such a call
imposes. We will have to bear with the idiosyncrasies
of one another and strive to make our own less annoying.
Sooner or later our effort will cause us to ask, “Is the
call worth it?” A recent analysis
discovers four stages of happiness: satisfying our physical senses, bettering
our neighbors, coming to peace with others, entering into a relationship with
God. The first two kinds are fleeting
while the latter settle deeply within the soul.
Ephesians proposes these final types of happiness as it speaks of “unity
of the spirit through the bond of peace” and “one God and Father of all” as our
destiny in Christ Jesus. It harbors no
doubt that the assured goal more than justifies any energy exerted.
