Article #4 - Fifth Series - July 17th, 2023 by Fr. Ben Daghir

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One Thing, Jesus Christ - Article #4 -  Fifth Series - July 17th, 2023 by Fr. Ben Daghir

Editor's Note: Fr. Ben Daghir preached this homily while in the seminary as a transitional deacon at St. Mary's Seminary & University. The homily was delivered on the Feast of St. Matthew, September 21, 2021. 

Article:

“Follow me.”

Do these words sound familiar to any of you?

I have been in seminary for five years now. It has been an unexpected, even difficult five years – a Grand Jury Report and a global pandemic for starters. 

If I were to boil down seminary to just two words – I would choose “follow me.” 

Once Matthew heard the words “follow me” his whole life shifted from coins to Christ, from being stagnant in life to being sent on mission. 

Do you remember the first time you heard the words…“follow me”?

Before today, when was the last time you thought about this pivotal moment – that time and place in which Jesus broke into your life and called out to you?

Or, have you let that powerful, personal encounter with God slip away from your memory - collecting dust over the past few months, years…even decades?

For me, this Matthew reading is challenging because I honestly do not remember the first time I heard the words – “follow me.” I never experienced a “St. Paul” or “Calling of Matthew” type of moment in which my whole world was turned upside down in an instant.   

I wrestled with this early on in seminary. Cardinal Newman’s Grammar of Assent has helped me though in understanding my vocation story. Newman explained that concerning religious matters we rarely come to an agreement with religious truths because of one specific, life-changing type of argument.

Rather, Newman said that we come to agreement with religious truths from a whole string of probable arguments, insights, encounters, intuitions, and experiences that come together at a common point. 

That common point for me became the seminary (a call to the priesthood) and it came through a whole string of thousands of experiences, interactions, and insights. It came through teachers, family members, coaches, priests, through injuries that I’ve had, through the profession that I worked and much more. 

What is your story? Is it like The Calling of Matthew? Has it been more like a consistent, gentle whisper? Or has it been a blend of both?

I believe it's extremely important to know the tactics of the enemy. The enemy seeks to do whatever it takes to get you, (whether you are a seminarian, priest, religious, single person, or married) to forget about the moment when Jesus called out to you “follow me.” 

Identify the key moment (or moments) in which Jesus called out to you "follow me."

Through the intercession of St. Matthew may we be renewed by Jesus’ words – “follow me.”
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Fr. Ben Daghir is a priest for the Diocese of Erie. He is a graduate of Elk County Catholic High School in Saint Marys, Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, and St. Mary's Seminary & University in Baltimore, Maryland. He considers writing one of his favorite hobbies.