Feast of Saint Matthew,
Apostle and Evangelist
Readings for the Feast of Saint Matthew[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-13
Brothers and sisters:
I, a prisoner for the Lord,
urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you 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:
one Body and one Spirit,
as you were also called to the one hope of your call;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all.
But grace was given to each of us
according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
And he gave some as Apostles, others as prophets,
others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers,
to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry,
for building up the Body of Christ,
until we all attain to the unity of faith
and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,
to the extent of the full stature of Christ.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Eph 4:1-7, 11-13
St. Paul enjoins the Church at Ephesus to holiness and unity as part of his instructions on what it means to live the Christian life. Though one baptism (“the call you have received”) we are united in Christ and through Christ to God the Father. While humility is not listed in the Greek lists as a virtue, the evangelist raises self effacing service of others to this status (see also 1 Corinthians 13:4, Galatians 5:22, and Colossians 3:12).
He goes on speaking of the unity of different parts of the living body of Christ, the Church, saying that different gifts were given (similar lists are found at Romans 12:3-8 and 1 Corinthians 12:1-31). He begins the list of gifts with those of spiritual leadership; Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. These have been called to service to others.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 19:2-3, 4-5
R. (5) Their message goes out through all the earth.
The heavens declare the glory of God;
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day pours out the word to day,
and night to night imparts knowledge.
R. Their message goes out through all the earth.
Not a word nor a discourse
whose voice is not heard;
Through all the earth their voice resounds,
and to the ends of the world, their message.
R. Their message goes out through all the earth.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 19:2-3, 4-5
Psalm 19 is a song of praise with the earth’s elements proclaiming the greatness of God who created them. In all that is, the handy work of God is proclaimed. Placed as it is on the feast of St. Matthew, this passage with its antiphon reminds us of the great work of spreading the Gospel of Christ.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Matthew 9:9-13
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.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mt 9:9-13
This passage is the call of St. Matthew into discipleship. His profession as customs worker or tax collector would have stimulated controversy among the Scribes and Pharisees and the presence of others of the same type at the meal described would have caused ritual impurity. Their question, therefore, would have been construed as a critical remark. The Lord responded metaphorically and punctuated his response with the observation that those who were critical of his associations did not understand the scriptures they professed to represent.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
We always marvel at the clarity with which some people are called to the service of Christ. The case of St. Matthew is one who, like many of the saints, had fallen into a secular profession seen by most of his contemporaries as being traitorous at the worst or undignified at the best; certainly not a profession from which God might select a friend, a very close friend at that.
Yet, the Gospel author describes himself as such in the passage we hear today. He does not elevate his stature as one chronicling the story of Christ might do. He could have omitted the detail of what he was doing when Christ called him. He could have been vague about his own need for reconciliation with God. But it is clear he wears his fallen nature as almost a badge of honor – describing Jesus as the great physician who came to heal him.
St. Paul defines the call to service in Christ, describing the different gifts, given by the Holy Spirit to those God chooses. Hearing him describe himself as “a prisoner for the Lord” connotes more than just the fact that he was being held prisoner at the time his letter was written. No, St. Paul, like St. Matthew, was least likely to be called by God into the service for Christ. He was captured first by Christ.
It is ironic indeed that those most unlikely men were called. He called fishermen, tax collectors and even persecutors of his followers to take his message into the world. The one who was out of the right mold for such a calling was the zealot – one who had dedicated his early life to the advent of the Messiah – yet it was Judas the zealot who betrayed him.
Today we thank God for calling St. Matthew. If Jesus can call the Tax Collector to service and make him an instrument of the Almighty Father, how much more does he call us to take our place in the living Body of Christ? We pray of St. Matthew’s intercession on his Feast day. May we hear and answer that call to “Follow me” with the same fervor and zeal.
Apostle and Evangelist
Readings for the Feast of Saint Matthew[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-13
Brothers and sisters:
I, a prisoner for the Lord,
urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you 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:
one Body and one Spirit,
as you were also called to the one hope of your call;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all.
But grace was given to each of us
according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
And he gave some as Apostles, others as prophets,
others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers,
to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry,
for building up the Body of Christ,
until we all attain to the unity of faith
and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,
to the extent of the full stature of Christ.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Eph 4:1-7, 11-13
St. Paul enjoins the Church at Ephesus to holiness and unity as part of his instructions on what it means to live the Christian life. Though one baptism (“the call you have received”) we are united in Christ and through Christ to God the Father. While humility is not listed in the Greek lists as a virtue, the evangelist raises self effacing service of others to this status (see also 1 Corinthians 13:4, Galatians 5:22, and Colossians 3:12).
He goes on speaking of the unity of different parts of the living body of Christ, the Church, saying that different gifts were given (similar lists are found at Romans 12:3-8 and 1 Corinthians 12:1-31). He begins the list of gifts with those of spiritual leadership; Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. These have been called to service to others.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 19:2-3, 4-5
R. (5) Their message goes out through all the earth.
The heavens declare the glory of God;
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day pours out the word to day,
and night to night imparts knowledge.
R. Their message goes out through all the earth.
Not a word nor a discourse
whose voice is not heard;
Through all the earth their voice resounds,
and to the ends of the world, their message.
R. Their message goes out through all the earth.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 19:2-3, 4-5
Psalm 19 is a song of praise with the earth’s elements proclaiming the greatness of God who created them. In all that is, the handy work of God is proclaimed. Placed as it is on the feast of St. Matthew, this passage with its antiphon reminds us of the great work of spreading the Gospel of Christ.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Matthew 9:9-13
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.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mt 9:9-13
This passage is the call of St. Matthew into discipleship. His profession as customs worker or tax collector would have stimulated controversy among the Scribes and Pharisees and the presence of others of the same type at the meal described would have caused ritual impurity. Their question, therefore, would have been construed as a critical remark. The Lord responded metaphorically and punctuated his response with the observation that those who were critical of his associations did not understand the scriptures they professed to represent.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
We always marvel at the clarity with which some people are called to the service of Christ. The case of St. Matthew is one who, like many of the saints, had fallen into a secular profession seen by most of his contemporaries as being traitorous at the worst or undignified at the best; certainly not a profession from which God might select a friend, a very close friend at that.
Yet, the Gospel author describes himself as such in the passage we hear today. He does not elevate his stature as one chronicling the story of Christ might do. He could have omitted the detail of what he was doing when Christ called him. He could have been vague about his own need for reconciliation with God. But it is clear he wears his fallen nature as almost a badge of honor – describing Jesus as the great physician who came to heal him.
St. Paul defines the call to service in Christ, describing the different gifts, given by the Holy Spirit to those God chooses. Hearing him describe himself as “a prisoner for the Lord” connotes more than just the fact that he was being held prisoner at the time his letter was written. No, St. Paul, like St. Matthew, was least likely to be called by God into the service for Christ. He was captured first by Christ.
It is ironic indeed that those most unlikely men were called. He called fishermen, tax collectors and even persecutors of his followers to take his message into the world. The one who was out of the right mold for such a calling was the zealot – one who had dedicated his early life to the advent of the Messiah – yet it was Judas the zealot who betrayed him.
Today we thank God for calling St. Matthew. If Jesus can call the Tax Collector to service and make him an instrument of the Almighty Father, how much more does he call us to take our place in the living Body of Christ? We pray of St. Matthew’s intercession on his Feast day. May we hear and answer that call to “Follow me” with the same fervor and zeal.
Pax
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture is “The Inspiration of Saint Matthew” by Caravaggio, 1602
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.
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