Word to the Wise
Thursday, September 21, 2017 - Sept. 21 - St. Matthew, Apostle and evangelist
[Eph 4:1-7, 11-13 and Matt 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. [Matthew]
Scripture scholars, God bless them, could keep us entertained a long time about the figure of Matthew (a/k/a Levi) and how the gospel bearing his name was written and the community that was the target audience. I heartily recommend all of this for deepening one's knowledge and appreciation of the richness of this gospel account. However, a profound appreciation can be obtained by simply reading this gospel portrait again and again and letting its challenge get under our skin and into our hearts and minds.
Some samples will suffice. We owe to Matthew the story of the Magi! We owe to him the Sermon on the Mount with the "Beatitudes" and "the Lord's Prayer." (Yes, I know, Luke has his own different versions of this.) We owe the scene at Caesarea Philippi where Peter makes his confession of faith and receives "the keys." We owe the incredible scene of the Last Judgment (Mt. 25:31-45), rendered in awesome fashion by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel. Those are just samples. Yes, like Luke, Matthew did borrow from the Gospel of Mark, but Matthew had his own sources as well. The very nature of the community that he wrote for, that of Jewish-Christians, shaped the narrative.
We Dominicans learn that one of the few books that Dominic carried with him was the Gospel According to Matthew. Its challenges in regard to basic Christian life - love of God and neighbor - and the direct challenge to Matthew as a tax collector - are our challenges. Can we drop what we're doing and follow Jesus? AMEN
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