The God of Surprising Calls

Voice over by Eliz

1Sam 9:1-4.17-19; 10:1a, Psalm: 20, Mk 2:13-17

Memorial of Saint Anthony, Abbot

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Our God is a God of surprising calls. He does not choose according to human standards of worthiness or honor. He looks past our resumes and our reputations, and He calls us where we are—often in the midst of our most ordinary, or even our most compromised, moments. Today, as we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Anthony, Abbot, the father of monasticism, the Scriptures reveal this divine pattern: God calls the unlikely, and that call demands a total response.

In the First Book of Samuel, we meet Saul, a handsome and tall young man from the smallest tribe of Israel. He is not seeking greatness; he is on a mundane errand, searching for his father’s lost donkeys. Yet, God reveals to Samuel that this is the man He has chosen to rule His people. When Samuel anoints him, Saul is given a new heart and is transformed. His ordinary journey is interrupted by a divine destiny he never sought. God’s call finds him in the fields, not in the palace.

This theme of the unexpected call reaches its pinnacle in the Gospel. Jesus walks by the tax booth of Levi, a man considered a traitor and a sinner for collaborating with Rome. Without a lengthy interview or a test of merits, Jesus says two simple words: “Follow me.” And Levi gets up, leaves everything behind, and follows Him. Later, at Levi’s house, Jesus shares a table with tax collectors and sinners, defending His actions to the scandalized Pharisees with the immortal words: “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

Here we see the heart of God’s call: it is an act of merciful election. It is not a reward for the virtuous, but a healing summons for those who need it most. This is the same call that Saint Anthony heard centuries later. Upon hearing the Gospel, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor” (Mt 19:21), he took it literally. He left his wealth and family for the Egyptian desert, embracing a life of radical prayer and poverty. Like Saul and Levi, his life was utterly re-directed by a word from God.

For us, the message is both a comfort and a challenge. The comfort is this: God is calling you. Not because you have your life perfectly sorted, but because He desires to heal and transform you. You do not need to be “holy enough” first. He calls you in your ordinary routine, in your weaknesses, as you are.

The challenge is this: the call requires a response. Levi had to leave his tax booth. Anthony had to sell his possessions. We, too, must leave behind whatever keeps us from a full “yes” to Christ—be it attachment to sin, to security, or to our own self-sufficiency.

Pope Benedict XVI once said, “The world offers you comfort. But you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness.” God’s surprising call is an invitation to that greatness—a life configured to Christ.

Let us ask for the intercession of Saint Anthony today. May he help us to hear the Lord’s call in the quiet of our hearts, and grant us the courage to rise, leave what we must, and follow without delay. Amen.

May God bless you all!