St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist
Today is the feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist. He is the traditional author of the first gospel. St. Matthew was born at Capernaum. He was working as a tax collector when Jesus called him to be one of the twelve apostles. He was sitting among the tax collectors, when Jesus said to him, "Follow me." "And he got up and followed him" (Matthew 9:9). Matthew wrote his gospel in Hebrew. His gospel, with its familiar references to the messianic prophecies, throws light on the continuity between the covenants. Moreover, his vocation is one of the most popular episodes in the life of Jesus, because of the personality of the one called the tax collector and the revelation of redeeming love that concludes and crowns the story. Matthew's position as tax collector equated with collaboration with the enemy by those from whom he collected taxes. Jesus' contemporaries were surprised to see Christ with a traitor, but Jesus explained that he had come "...