Do you enjoy paying taxes? I'm guessing not. I try to think of my check as going directly to the expenditures I like. All things considered, I am most thankful to live where I do. Tax collectors in Jesus time were particularly despised. They served the oppressive Romans, who were clever. To assure enough volunteers for the despicable job, they allowed them to extort extra money for themselves. That made them doubly despised.
The Gospel in today's Daily Office readings (from Matthew) tells how it went down when Jesus called a tax collector to be one of his select twelve, but it doesn't tell much:
As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him.
Matthew 9:9
How did Jesus know that Matthew had the potential to one day be an Evangelist? How was Matthew different from all the other bums who collected taxes?
I started doing research prompted by these questions, and then it occurred to me: Maybe Jesus didn't see anything special in Matthew yet. Maybe Jesus extended this invitation to lots and lots of tax collectors and other sinners we haven't heard about. Maybe the only thing that made Matthew special was that he said, "Yes." With that "Yes," Jesus was able to work wonders.
Let's start the day by saying "Yes" to Jesus before we even now what the question is! It might just lead to more wonders.
