Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist

Saint Matthew was born at Capernaum. He was working as a tax collector when Jesus called him to be one of the twelve apostles. He wrote his gospel in Hebrew. His gospel, with its familiar references to the messianic prophecies, throws light on the continuity between the covenants.

Today's gospel reading (Matthew 9:9-13)-- the story of the tax collector, Matthew, being called to follow Jesus, is one of the most popular episodes in the life of Jesus. Tax collectors were basically considered the scum of the earth and Jesus, who is viewed as a holy and devout Jew, approaches this outcast and beckons him, "Follow me." He then does something outrageous -- He sits down to a meal and eats with this lowly sinner, which shocks the Pharisees. When the Pharisees ask Jesus why He is doing such a ridiculous thing, He responds, "Those who are sick do not need a physician, but the sick do." This is the clincher here. Jesus tells us that His role on this earth is to heal the sick -- to aid the sinner -- by applying His healing balm. He is here for those who are most in need of His mercy. By eating with sinners and outcasts like Matthew, Jesus demonstrates God's mercy toward the sinner. God invites the sinner to come to the meal -- the banquet-- as He wants the sinner to abandon his evil ways and to follow after Him and to share in His bountiful graces. He does not shun the sinner as do the Pharisees, but He loves the sinner as His beloved child and wants him to be the recepient of His great love and mercy.

Jesus later says, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." Does this mean He wants us to give up sacrifice? No, but He does want us to offer up our sacrifices with the right intention in our hearts. He wants us to offer up our sacrifices with the true intentions of obedience to Him and devotion for Him. Our sacrifice should consist in patterning our lives and our hearts after Him, not to simply make (empty) material offerings without the intention of living out the gospel message in our lives. At the time of Jesus, the people were unable to fully offer the sacrifice of obedience that Jesus required of them, so Christ enacted this mercy of God in eating with the sinners and by dying for our sins and rising for our justification.

God desires each of us to receive His endless mercy -- to share that mercy with us through His sacraments. Today, He is calling us to become holy by following after Him -- by first, sharing in His mercy through the reception of the sacraments -- particularly in the healing Sacrament of Reconcilliation and also in the sacrament which strenghtens and empowers our souls -- the Holy Eucharist so that we may reach out to sinners and share His unconditional and steadfast love and mercy with all of His children.