September 21st, St. Mathew, Apostle and Evangelist

Jesus Calls Mathew 

This is the image of the first chronicler of the Life of Jesus. However, we do not know much about him; we do not know his date of birth or death. We know that he was from Galilee, and followed the despised profession of the tax collector.  The acceptance of his invitation for dinner, by the tax collector was a powerful statement of Christ which sent shock waves among the Jewish circles. He has come for the sinners, sick and downtrodden. Today, the 21^st of September, the church celebrates the feast of St. Mathew, Apostle and Evangelist. Welcome to the feast of the day.

One of the four Evangelists St. Matthew is the author of the first gospel of the New Testament in the Bible.  Matthew was a tax collector before becoming an apostle of Christ.  He was the son of Alpheus.  He was born in Galilee, though his birth and death dates are not known.  He is the patron saint of bankers. 

Matthew chapter 9 verse 9, describes Matthew’s response to the calling of Christ. Matthew was collecting tax in Capernaum when Jesus came that way.  Jesus said to Matthew, “Follow me”.  A single command from Jesus was all it took for Matthew, to leave behind everything he had been doing.  Subsequently, Matthew invited Jesus home for a feast.  It was here that the Scribes and the Pharisees found fault with Jesus for eating with tax collectors and sinners. This prompted Jesus to answer, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

Matthew became one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ and was a witness to a number of miracles.  He was a witness to the ascension of Jesus Christ.  As a tax collector he would have known Aramaic and Greek languages. Matthew later wrote the gospel around AD 70 in either Aramaic or Hebrew language.  The pages of Matthew’s gospel encourage the faithful and offer hope, and lead the lost to Christ.  Not much is known about Matthew beyond this as the happenings in his life are not chronicled anywhere.  Many Bible scholars consider St. Matthew is depicted with one of four living creatures of Revelation chapter four verse seven,  which reads ‘the first living creature was like a lion, the second like a calf, the third living creature had a human face and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle’.