St. Matthew - Sept. 21st

 

Today, we celebrate the Feast of St. Matthew, one of the 12 apostles, who followed Jesus. Born in Capernaum, he was the son of Alphaeus. In the Gospels of Mark and Luke, he is called “Levi”. He is the author of the Gospel of Matthew, which was originally written in Aramaic and then translated into Greek. Raised was raise as a Jew.

Before Our Divine Lord would call him to follow Him, he worked as a tax collector. Tax collectors were despised by many of the Jews, because they often cheated the people out of their money and because they worked for King Herod. Matthew most likely was very wealthy because he probably cheated many people out of money.

Through the eyes of mercy, and knowing full well of Matthew’s sinful lifestyle, Jesus saw the sinful misery of his life and chose Him to be one of His apostles.

One day, while Matthew was working at the customs post, most likely at a booth for collecting taxes on inter-regional trade, Jesus came up to him, and said, “Follow me”. Immediately understanding the love and mercy of Jesus, it brought him to full repentance.

Matthew was so excited, because Jesus asked him to follow him, that he invited Our Lord to eat supper at his house, and to meet his friends, who were tax collectors and sinners. Matthew must have been overjoyed, because He discovered that Our Lord believed in him.

Can you imagine all the great sinners that would have been at the feast? Most likely Matthew would have introduced Jesus to everyone and announced that He was going to change His life and give up cheating other people. And those who were the great sinners would have felt welcomed because Jesus did not disdain them, but rather came among them, to be with them. How many at the feast would later become baptized Christians because Jesus stooped down to their level to be with them, despite their sinfulness.

After Christ's Death, Resurrection, and Ascension, Saint Matthew is said to have preached the Gospel to the Jews for as many as 15 years, though it is uncertain where he preached. Some believe that it was in Persia or Ethiopia.

There is a tradition, that one of Matthew’s greatest miracles was to bring back to life the king's daughter. And because of this miracle, he converted the king and his wife together with the whole country to the faith of Christ. When the king died, his successor Hirtacus wished to marry the daughter of the former king; but she had made a vow of virginity. Since the vow had been taken through Matthew's influence, Hirtacus had Matthew killed while celebrating Mass. It was on the 21st of September Matthew's apostolic work was crowned with the glory of martyrdom.

Matthew is the patron of Accountants, bankers, bookkeepers, customs officers, money managers, stock brokers, and tax collectors. Today, may we turn to St. Matthew and ask him to help us to to follow Jesus. May his example of prompt and complete obedience inspire us to care not what others think, but do what we believe the Lord desires of us.