What are we truly satisfied with—money, relationships, good food and fine clothes, name and fame, or power? While all these things may bring us happiness and satisfaction, sooner or later, we often find ourselves still longing for something more. Our Christian search is an eternal one.
As we reflect on the life of Saint Matthew, we remember the life of a tax collector. Tax collectors worked for the Roman authorities and could sometimes collect more than what was required, keeping the extra for themselves. This allowed them to become wealthy and have a certain degree of power and influence. Yet Matthew would have also discovered the limitation of money: it could provide comfort and security, but it could not satisfy the deeper longing of the human heart.
Saint Augustine beautifully reminds us that, “our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” Saint Paul, in his Letter to the Philippians, likewise considers everything else as, “rubbish compared with the surpassing worth of knowing Christ.” These words remind us that our deepest longings and thirst cannot be fully satisfied by anything the world can offer. Ultimately, our hearts can find true peace, fulfillment, and rest only in Jesus.
As Jesus draws Matthew to Himself through grace, Matthew leaves behind everything he once placed his trust in and chooses to follow Christ. He steps away from the security of what he knows and into a new world of faith—a journey into, “the delightful unknown with hope.”
Rev. George Meze, SJ
I am Fr. Vilezo George Meze SJ, originally from India. I am doing my EdD studies and serve as a spiritual director with Campus Ministry. Before coming to the U.S., I spent a decade working in school administration among Indigenous communities in Northeast India.
