FEAST OF SAINT MATTHEW, APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST: Today, we celebrate the great Feast of one of the Twelve Apostles of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and who is also one of the Four Evangelists, Saint Matthew, the Apostles and Evangelist. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saint Matthew on this feast day, we humbly pray for all accountants, bankers, financial officers, custom officers, guards and security personnel. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mentally and physically ill, and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of all the faithful departed. We pray for all widows and widowers. We pray for the poor and needy, for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families, and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, the Bishops, the Clergy, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted Christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world…. Amen🙏
SAINT MATTHEW, APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST: St. Matthew the Apostle (1st c.) was a sinner-turned Saint, a Jew who also went by the name of Levi. St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist was one of the twelve Apostles and the traditional author of the first Gospel of the New Testament, the Gospel of St. Matthew, the first of the four Holy Gospels. St. Matthew was once a tax collector in Judea, who was called by God and who responded to that call with faith, leaving behind his past life and work as tax collector in order to follow the Lord and serve Him wholeheartedly. St. Matthew was the son of Alpheus, born in Capernaum near the Sea of Galilee. He was from Galilee and served in Capernaum as a tax collector for Herod Antipas before becoming a disciple of Jesus. He collected taxes from the Hebrew people for the ruler Herod Antipas, a position that while lucrative would have made him unpopular and an outcast among the Jewish people. Having this job would however, mean that St. Matthew was likely literate in Aramaic and Greek. His Gospel was written in Aramaic, the language that our Lord Himself spoke and was written to convince the Jews that their anticipated Messiah had come in the person of Jesus. He was the first to put down in writing our Lord’s teaching and the account of His life. St. Matthew is known to us principally as an Evangelist, with his Gospel being the first in the New Testament. He is known as Levi in the gospels of Mark and Luke. Thus, it is thought that Matthew is the name given him by Christ. Matthew, means “Gift of God.” St Matthew was working as a tax collector when he was called by Jesus from the customs post in Capernaum, near present day Almagor, where he was collecting taxes. It was in the home of St. Matthew that Jesus dined with the “sinners and tax collectors.” Under Jesus’ influence St. Matthew was led to repentance for the evil he had done as a tax-collector, a position despised by his fellow Jews. He repaid those he cheated four-fold, sold all his possessions, and followed Christ as one of the twelve Apostles.
St. Matthew preached among the Jews for fifteen years following the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus. He wrote the first Gospel to convince the Jews that Jesus Christ was the Messiah promised to Israel. According to tradition, St. Matthew’s apostolic mission was at first restricted to Palestine and while little is known about his later life some traditions indicate that he travelled to Ethiopia, still others state that he was in Parthia and Persia. Matthew preached the Faith in Africa and was martyred in the year 65 in Ethiopia while offering Mass. He is represented with an angel as a sign of his new life as a messenger of Christ. In the traditional symbolization of the evangelists, based on Ezech. 1:5-10 and Rev. 4:6-7, the image of the winged man is accorded to Matthew because his Gospel begins with the human genealogy of Christ. St Matthew, himself, is only mentioned five times in the New Testament. And, in the New Testament, the phrase “The Kingdom of Heaven” is used exclusively by him. It is said in the Constitutions of Pope Saint Clement that Saint Matthew instituted holy water, for protection of soul and body; the prayer he used for the purpose is reported in that document. The relics of Saint Matthew were for many years in the city of Naddaver in Ethiopia, where he suffered his martyrdom, but were transferred to Salerno in the year 954, where they remained concealed in a cave, for protection, for over a hundred years. St. Matthew is the Patron Saint of accountants and bankers, bookkeepers, financial officers and tax collectors, stock brokers, guards and security personnel, custom officers, Salerno, Italy, among others. His feast day is September 21st.
Quote from the Bible: Matthew 5:44, Jesus Christ: “But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”
PRAYER: God, You chose St. Matthew the Publican to become an Apostle. By following his example and benefiting by his prayers, may we always follow and abide by Your will. Amen 🙏