"My Soul Is In A Hurry" by Mário de Andrade
Come Join Us For Homecoming Sunday, September 21, 2025
“As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post.
He said to him, “Follow me.”
And he got up and followed him.”
-Matthew 9:9
Growing up in a small fishing village in the island of Tobago, one would often witness fisherfolk plying their trade. The men would journey beyond sight in pirogues loaded with nets and fishing rods early in the mornings as we meandered to school. On afternoons, they would return, weighted down with both equipment and catch, as the many women who would be cleaners and sellers awaited their arrival.
One permanent presence would be the seagulls and other types of sea birds, who would hover around waiting like scavengers for whatever was available. They ate almost anything!
Each year, as I, along with Canon Brian Jemmott, celebrate our anniversary of ordination on the Feast of St Matthew, my mind often likens Matthew the Tax collector to seagulls.
Matthew, as a tax collector, had set up shop on the shore of the “Emperor’s lake,” and all who desired to fish or traverse must pay taxes. So there was commuter tax, boat tax, fish permit, and then fish taxed by the weight. It was quite a lucrative trade yet despised by all.
For Jesus to call him that was hated and despised to become a follower is miraculous. But Jesus did not stop there he moved Matthew to become a conduit and evangelist to tax collector’s community. For Jesus, Tax collectors were valuable in God’s work of redemption. Today I can share with a sense of joy that my ministry at St Elizabeth’s and beyond has been built upon the willingness to bring those who are abhorred and rejected even by the very church that claims “all are welcome”.
Today I lift up the Haitian community in our midst not as Tax collectors to be converted, but people of Jesus to love and serve.
Thank you, Jesus, for allowing me the opportunity to journey with Brian as brother and friend in the gracious work of serving, like seagulls – all are worthy.
Thanks, Blessed Matthew, for the example.
+Andy