Saturday of Week 1 – 1 Sam 9:1-4,17-19,10:1; Ps 21:2-7; Mark 2:13-17

Catechism

How much do I need to know in order to pass it on?

Saul went looking for donkeys and came back a king. It’s in the first reading. And in the Gospel, I read how Jesus appoints Levi the tax collector as His disciple. Later, He sits down to the feast “with tax collectors and sinners”, but that’s not the point. . .

And us? Sometimes it seems to us that to do anything in the Church, we need several years of preparation, studies, formation. . . This prudence is, of course, not a bad thing. Those performing various functions should be prepared to perform them. But aren’t we overdoing prudence? When the Church demands preparation from a person who has long been prepared, but not necessarily trained in a dedicated course or study? Or when someone wants to get more involved in their mission, often they’ve already been formed in experience, but are pushed into yet another long-term formation?

This is how passivity is born in many of us. There are needs, but I have no training, I am not formed, I am not suitable, let the specialists take care of it. . .

But God’s calling looks different. Yes, He knows hearts much better than we do. And the Church, instead of trusting only in certificates, could make the effort to simply get to know the person.