Chosen

The first reading and Gospel for today depict men being called by God for a specific role of service. In the first reading, when the prophet Samuel sees the handsome young Saul, God says, "He is the one I have chosen to be the king of my people." So Samuel anoints Saul as he will later, secretly, anoint David. In the Gospel, it is Levi, son of Alphaeus, who hears Jesus' "Come, follow me." The way the Gospel puts it, Jesus "saw Levi, son of Alphaeus, at his customs post." (He was, you will recall, a tax collector.) It's "that look" again. The look that sees a person, knows him through and through, and still "looks with favor." I found myself praying with Psalm 139, "Lord, you have probed me and you know me..."