Who me or who him?

Calling of St Matthew:

Today is the feast day of St. Matthew and I start this off by going back to yesterday's Hebrew Testament lesson for morning prayer from Job  28: 20 "Where then does wisdom come from? And where is the place of understanding? 21It is hidden from the eyes of all living, and concealed from the birds of the air. 22Abaddon and Death say, 'We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.' 23"God understands the way to it, and he knows its place. 24For he looks to the ends of the earth, and sees everything under the heavens. 25When he gave to the wind its weight, and apportioned out the waters by measure; 26when he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the thunderbolt; 27then he saw it and declared it; he established it, and searched it out. 28And he said to humankind, 'Truly, the awe of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.'"

One of the moments of awe for me was when Pat and I visited the Contaelli Chapel in the church of St. Luigi del Francesi in Rome when we were on a pilgrimage following the steps of Francis. You have to put some money into a light to see the whole chapel better but the thing is that the light in this painting was as if the same light were coming in from the window in the chapel. We spent a lot of time reflecting on this painting and two others about Matthew (Inspiration and Martyrdom)  by Caravaggio in the same Chapel. But it was this that jumped out at me. We bought a print and framed it after we got home. I have used it in each church as a sermon.

Caravaggio's  The Calling of St. Matthew

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 I see this picture every day in our dining room and each day I am struck that I am doing something as strange as responding to a call from God. That is what is going on to all of the people in the painting  "Who me?" or "Who him?" depending on your interpretation. There are other days when I pass right by it and act like a few of the other people around the table and say, "I don't need this in my life right now."

Today you might want to reflect on what gives you awe? Opportunities for awe are all around us.  How does going into that awe change your view of the world you live in? It is that changed view of the world out of awe that is the beginning of one's call.