The Feast of St Matthew, Apostle

The Feast of St Matthew, Apostle

By REV. FR. SAMUEL FREDERICK

Eph. 4:1-7.11-13, Mt. 9:9-13. The name Matthew comes from Hebrew-Mattija, shortened to Mattai in post-Biblical Hebrew, which means “Gift of Yahweh”. Matthew is mentioned five times in the New Testament; first in Matthew 9:9, when called by Jesus to follow Him and four times in the list of the Apostles, where he is mentioned in the seventh (Lk. 6:15, Mk 3:18), or the eighth place (Mt. 10:3, Acts 1:13). Matthew is the man designated as “sitting in the custom house” (Mt 9:9) whom the Lord called with the terms: “Follow me”. Levi was his original name before we come to know him as Matthew. Instances of a person having two names are frequent among the Jews. It is true that the same person usually bears Hebrew name such as “Shaoul” and a Greek name, Paulos. We have also examples of individuals with two Hebrew names, for instance, Joseph-Caiaphas or Simon-Cephas. It is also possible that he was only renamed when the Lord called him as an Apostle and by it he was thenceforth known among his Christian brethren.

The Lord called Levi to follow him and leave behind his post and listened to the Lord. It does not mean that we have to leave everything behind as Matthew did, rather, we have to give our hearts totally to God and focus our attention on Him. We have to do our best in our every actions, words and deeds to give greater glory to God and become the witnesses of His truth to others not just by words alone but through our every actions and even the small gestures that we take every single day. Let us renew our commitment to the Lord and be ever closer in our relationship with Him. Let us entrust ourselves, our hearts, minds and indeed our whole being to God without any reservation.

May the Lord, who showed His great mercy to Matthew the tax-collector, grant us the grace to live in close union with Christ so that our hearts may be cleansed from sin! Amen!! Good morning and have a pleasant day!!!

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