Feast of Saint Matthew, Apostle and evangelist
September 21, 2023
Hello and welcome to the Word, bringing you the Good News of Jesus Christ every day from the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province. I am Fr. Karl Esker from the Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, NY. Today is the Feast of Saint Matthew, Apostle and evangelist.
Today’s reading is taken from the holy gospel according to Matthew.
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. While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" He heard this and said, "Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners."
The gospel of the Lord.
Homily
Matthew is mentioned in the lists of the apostles in Matthew, Mark, Luke and Acts. Only the gospel of Matthew has Jesus calling him from the tax collector’s post, as we just heard. Mark and Luke call the tax collector, Levi, and Mark says he was the son of Alphaeus. This is all we know about Matthew from the New Testament. But because he was an apostle, we know that he accompanied Jesus throughout his ministry, witnessed Jesus’ death and resurrection and went out to preach that Jesus was the Son of God and Savior of the world and to form communities in Jesus’ name. He was faithful to Jesus to the end and most likely died a violent death in imitation of his Master. It was this desire to spread the Good News more effectively that lead Matthew to write the gospel that now bears his name.
From the way the gospel is written, we can deduce that Matthew was a devout Jew who wrote for a Jewish-Christian community. They were comfortable with celebrating high feast days in the temple and frequenting the synagogue on Saturdays. But they were all Baptized and on Sunday they would meet in a house to celebrate the Eucharist. Of course, all this would change with the destruction of the Temple and the subsequent expulsion of the Christians from the Synagogue.
That a former tax collector was one of the leaders of this community is amazing. It shows what a tremendous effect associating with Jesus and heeding his call had on Matthew. It brought him back to his roots in the Old Covenant and then beyond into the New Covenant of water and the Spirit.
Matthew lost no time in spreading the word. As soon as he was called, he invited his friends to a banquet in his house, so they, too, could come and meet Jesus. Of course, the Pharisees objected and asked the other disciples: “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus heard and bluntly replied: “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” Years later, the memory of those kind and saving words would lead Matthew to begin writing his gospel.
Paul, a Pharisee, was also transformed by his encounter with the Lord, as we hear in the letter to the Ephesians. He urges his listeners to “live in a manner worthy of the call [they] have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” And he makes his profession of faith: “one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
Matthew and Paul, each in his own way, built up the Body of Christ. By reading and meditating on their works, we draw closer to Jesus Christ, and receive the call to recognize God’s infinite mercy towards us, and to do our part in spreading the word.
May God bless you.
Fr. Karl E. Esker CSsR
Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help
Brooklyn, NY
POWERED BY BLUBRRY
