Word to the Wise
Wednesday, September 21, 2016 - Sept. 21 - St. Matthew, Apostle and evangelist
[Eph 4:1-7, 11-13 and Matt 9:9-13]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. [Ephesians]
According to this quote from the Letter to the Ephesians, St. Matthew (a/k/a Levi) qualifies under two gifts: apostle and evangelist. We don't know a lot about him except that he was a tax collector, which made him a "sinner" in the sight of the Pharisees. We could probably glean additional details about his job from Jesus' encounter with Zaccheus, the tax collector, in the Gospel of Luke (19:2 et seq.) The opportunities to grow wealthy in that job were well-known. It was bad enough to be working for the Romans, but one would be handling coins with pagan images on them. All of this gives Jesus the opportunity to declare, "I did not come to call the righteous but sinners."
Forgiveness is a prominent theme in the Gospel of Matthew. We find it in the Sermon on the Mount (5:23), in the process of reconciliation (18:15) and in the parable of the Unforgiving Servant (19:21-35). Most importantly, we find it in the Lord's Prayer (6:9-15). Matthew was the recipient of the Lord's call and the Lord's mercy. Jesus did not come to establish a group of elite perfect humans, he came to provide mercy to sinners.
One of the tesimonies at the canonization of St. Dominic revealed that he always carried a copy of the Gospel of Matthew with him. This is a reminder to me as a Dominican that forgiveness of sins, mine and those of others, is supposed to be the fruit of good preaching. This feast day can serve to remind us all of that challenge! AMEN
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