Daily Gospel Reflections for Sep 21, 2026

SPEAKER_1 (0:26)

Thank you. Thank you. My brothers and sisters, to pray for me, to the Lord our God.

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew.

SPEAKER_2 (0:55)

As Jesus passed by from there, he saw a man called Matthew, sitting at the tax collection office. He said to him, follow me.

He got up and followed him. As he sat in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? When Jesus heard it, he said to them, Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick do. But you go and learn what this means.

I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

SPEAKER_1 (1:50)

The Gospel of the Lord As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, Follow me. And he got up and followed him.

Matthew was sitting at his customs post when Jesus saw him. He was not praying in the synagogue or doing something that would make him feel especially worthy of being chosen. He was working as a tax collector, a profession that carried a terrible reputation among the Jewish people. Tax collectors worked for the Roman authorities and were often associated with dishonesty and greed. Matthew would not have been the person many people expected Jesus to choose as one of his disciples. Yet, Jesus stopped for him. The Gospel does not tell us that Jesus first questioned Matthew about his past. There was no long conversation about whether Matthew deserved another chance. Jesus simply said, Follow me. Two words changed the direction of Matthew's life. What is just as striking is Matthew's response. He got up and followed Jesus. He left the customs post behind without knowing exactly where Jesus would lead him or what following him would cost. There is something very real about that moment. We often want to know where a decision will take us before we make it. We want some assurance that things will work out. We may tell ourselves that we will follow God once we have settled a few problems, become more disciplined, overcome a weakness or reached a point where we feel ready. Matthew reminds us that following Jesus does not begin when everything is in order. It begins when we hear his invitation and choose to respond.

Jesus also saw more in Matthew than the people around him could see. Others could look at Matthew and see a text collector. Jesus saw someone who could become his disciple. He saw the man who would eventually share the good news and whose name would be connected to one of the Gospels. Matthew's past was real, but it did not have the final word over his future.

We can easily allow our past to define what we believe is possible for us. A mistake we still regret, a relationship that went wrong, years spent chasing the wrong things, or choices we wish we could change, can make us feel that we have already traveled too far in the wrong direction.

Sometimes, other people continue to see us as an old version of ourselves, even when we are trying to change. We may even do the same to ourselves. Jesus does not look at us only through what we have done. He sees who we can become when we choose to follow Him.

But Matthew still had to get up. Jesus gave the invitation, and Matthew had to respond. The customs post represented more than a place of work. It was familiar. It provided income. It was the life Matthew knew. Getting up meant leaving something certain for a path he could not yet see.

That part of the Gospel matters because faith is not only about hearing Jesus. At some point, we have to move.

Our own customs post may be something very different. It could be a habit we know is pulling us away from God. It could be resentment we have carried for years. A comfortable routine that leaves little room for Him, or fear that keeps us from doing what we know is right. Sometimes, it is simply our need to control what happens next.

Jesus still says, Follow me. He may not show us the entire road ahead. Matthew did not receive a detailed plan before he stood up. He received an invitation and chose to trust the one who gave it. There will be moments when following Jesus asks something from us. We may have to leave behind what no longer belongs in our lives. We may have to forgive, change direction, admit that we were wrong, begin again, or take a step whose outcome we cannot predict. The important question is not whether we feel completely prepared. It is whether we trust Jesus enough to get up when he calls. Matthew's life changed because he did. What is the customs post in our life today? Is there something familiar that we are holding on to, even though we sense Jesus asking us to move forward? What would it mean for us in practical terms to get up and follow him today?