St Matthew (September 21)

We celebrate the Feast of St. Matthew this week on September 21. Happy feast to all Matthews especially to our Parish Priest! St. Matthew was one of Jesus’ 12 apostles and also one of the four Evangelists, according to the Bible. Prior to preaching the word of God, he worked as a tax collector in Capernaum and called Levi.

One of the things that St. Matthew is most famous for is his call by Jesus. Once he was called by Jesus, Matthew left everything and followed Him, not even stopped to close the till or shut down the computer. Matthew was transformed by his encounter with Jesus. He wanted to think, talk, and act like Jesus. Of course he was not always perfect in thinking, talking and acting like Jesus, but he really did his best.

When Jesus dined at Matthew’s house later that day, Jesus was happy to sit and eat with other tax collectors and “sinners”. Jesus welcomed them as well; something he does throughout the gospels. To see a deeper understanding of the great celebration Matthew held at his house, we must realise that he not only gave a banquet for the Lord at his earthly residence, but far more pleasing was the banquet set in his own heart which he provided through faith and love.

What about us? Have we allowed our encounter with Jesus to transform our lives or simply doing merely the external duties of living the Christian life? What do we have to leave behind to truly follow Jesus? Pride? Anger? Hurt? Resentment? May be there are people in our families whom we are embarrassed by because of the way they live their lives. Do we just ignore them, or do we invite them to meet Jesus, to experience His mercy?

Fr Tomy