2026-09-21 - Get Up and follow me Author:
21st September 2026
Feast of Saint Matthew, Apostle and evangelist
Eph 4:1-7,11-13
Mt 9:9-13
Today, the Church celebrates the feast of Matthew the evangelist, one of the apostles of Jesus. The Feast of St Matthew is a beautiful reminder that the life you are living today does not have to be the life you will live tomorrow.
In the Gospel, Jesus came and said to him, "Follow me." And Matthew got up and followed him. That simple action of getting up can speak powerfully to our lives.
Beloved friends, sometimes, we pray for success while remaining in the same place, doing the same things, with the same habits and expecting a different result. Matthew teaches us something practical: if you want a different life, at some point you must get up. You cannot remain seated and expect to move forward.
If you want to succeed academically, get up and study. If you want to succeed in your career, get up and acquire the skills you need. If you want to improve your finances, get up and learn how to manage what you have. If you want to build something meaningful, get up and begin. If you want to grow spiritually, get up and pray.
Prayer is important, but prayer should not become an excuse for inactivity. Sometimes we say, "I am waiting for God." But perhaps God is saying, "I have already given you an opportunity; now get up and use it."
Getting up means taking responsibility. Matthew could have remained at the tax booth waiting for something to happen. Instead, when Jesus called him, he responded. The new life God is calling us to embrace often requires movement. You may not have everything you need today, but use what you have and start where you are. You may not know everything, but learn. You may have failed before, but try again. You may have been delayed, but do not remain permanently stuck because of the delay. A person who keeps sitting at the place of yesterday cannot arrive at the opportunities of tomorrow.
Remember, getting up does not simply mean becoming busy. It means getting up from whatever is keeping you from becoming the person you are capable of becoming. Get up from laziness. Get up from excuses. Get up from fear of failure. Get up from excessive dependence on other people. Get up from the habit of complaining without acting. And sometimes, get up from the wrong environment. There are places where you have remained for too long, not because God wants you there, but because you are afraid to move.
Matthew got up, and his life changed. The life of Matthew did not change while he remained seated at the tax booth. The change began when he got up. Perhaps the opportunity you are praying for is waiting for your first step.
So, on this feast of St Matthew, the message is simple: If you want to embrace the new life God is calling you to, get up from where you are. Do not merely complain about where you are going. Get up. Learn. Work. Pray. Try. Start again. move forward. Because sometimes God has already provided the opportunity; what is missing is simply the courage to get up and follow.
May the life of St. Matthew inspire us to get up from where we are to where we should now be.
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