“Surrendering ourselves totally to the Sovereignty of our Blessed Lord and being an inspiration to others, to turn towards the Lord!”

(Based on Gen 23:1-4, 19; 24:1-8, 62-67 and Mt 9:9-13 – Friday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time)

An interesting story is said of a Christian Missionary woman who had been doing the work of evangelization among a native group of tribals.

After she had been with them for a while, and after the natives had experienced the Power of the Lord…
… they gave her a new name: “Aim-day-co”

The Chief of the Tribe, in explaining the name, said: “In our tribe, when we see anyone taking a wrong route/road, we call out “Aim-day-co”

It means, “Turn this way!”

Our sister came from a far-away land and found us all on the wrong road.

She sensed that we were in great danger of losing our souls.

So she stood and said “Turn this Way”…
… and pointed to Jesus!

May God bless “Aim-day-co!”

Are we ready to be an “Aim-day-co” in the lives of people?

The Gospel of the Day (Mt 9:9-13) presents Jesus Who became an “AIM DAY CO” in the life of St Mathew…
… and today, on the Feast day of St Mathew, we celebrate, how, in turn, this Great Saint has become an “Aim-day-co” to all of us, by his Gospel!

One of the important and essential dimensions of an encounter with our Blessed Lord is the “transformation effect” on the person.

If one has had a genuine encounter with Him…
… one cannot be passive
… one cannot just remain the same

Either one shakes off the dust of sin and slackness and follows Him in sincerity
… or one tries to cast Him off from life and adamantly remains in one’s own desires!

Either one takes radical decisions in life and orients one’s conduct in accordance with His Will
… or one seeks to do away with all Divine inspirations and obstinately sticks firm to one’s personal interests!

In any case, an “encounter with the Lord” causes an effect in life – either for the good or towards rejecting the impulses of Divine Goodness.

Do I respond positively and emphatically to the call of the Lord…
… or do I sink into an attitude of grumbling, complaining and disinterestedness?

The Gospel of the day presents these two “contrasting reactions” in the encounter with Jesus…

Matthew…. who hears the call of the Lord – “Follow Me” (Mt 9: 9)

The Pharisees… who observe the lavishness of God’s mercy and react with grumbling and complaining (Mt 9: 11)

Jesus very emphatically declares, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick” (Mt 9:12)

This verse is the key to understand and gauge the style of reaction, when we encounter the Lord…

The one who needs Him – will relish Him!

The one who feels no need of Him- will reject Him!

The one who acknowledges that one is sick, weak and in need of God’s grace and mercy – will find in Him a Saviour!

The one who vehemently says that one is all fine, self-motivated and strong willed – will fail to find any consolation in Him!

Here then is a wonderful check-meter to test my passion, my longing and my intensity of love for the Lord…

Have I discovered that by myself I cannot achieve everything that life demands of me….?
… and in the Lord alone, I have the answer to my problem and a solution to the puzzles of my life!

Do I realise that as a human person, I often fall into the snares of sin and can get easily caught up in evil traps… ?
… and in the Lord alone, I have the antidote to sin and a remedy to overcome the pitfalls of wickedness!

St Mathew presents a beautiful picture, of embracing the Lord fully into life because He realised and discovered the intimate need of the Lord in his life.

He experienced Jesus as an “Aim-day-co” – the One Who told him “Turn this Way”…
… away from the ways of sin and Turn towards the Way of Salvation!
… away from the ways of corruption and Turn towards the Way of Christ!

On this First Friday of the Month, as we offer ourselves to the Sacred Heart of our Blessed Lord…
… may we be inspired by St Mathew and imitate his example in surrendering ourselves totally to the Lord’s Sovereignty…
… and thus be an “Aim-day-co” – the one who tells “Turn this Way” to many people in our lives!

God Bless! Live Jesus!

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Discovering the beauty of the Catholic Church through the Catechism:
THE MYSTERIES OF JESUS’ HIDDEN LIFE
The hidden life at Nazareth allows everyone to enter into fellowship with Jesus by the most ordinary events of daily life:

The home of Nazareth is the school where we begin to understand the life of Jesus – the school of the Gospel.
First, then, a lesson of silence. May esteem for silence, that admirable and indispensable condition of mind, revive in us
A lesson on family life: May Nazareth teach us what family life is, its communion of love, its austere and simple beauty, and its sacred and inviolable character
A lesson of work: Nazareth, home of the “Carpenter’s Son”, in you I would choose to understand and proclaim the severe and redeeming law of human work
The finding of Jesus in the temple is the only event that breaks the silence of the Gospels about the hidden years of Jesus.
Here Jesus lets us catch a glimpse of the mystery of his total consecration to a mission that flows from His Divine Sonship: “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s work?”
Mary and Joseph did not understand these words, but they accepted them in faith.

Mary “kept all these things in her heart” during the years Jesus remained hidden in the silence of an ordinary life. (Cf. CCC # 533-534)