Saint Who?
Saints Who Took Detours in Life
Saint Matthew
Apostle and evangelist († 1st century) Feast: September 21
Matthew was apparently sitting in his office and collecting taxes from the locals for the Roman empire when Jesus appeared. The wonderworker from Nazareth simply said, “Follow me.” And Matthew got up and followed him.
Maybe Matthew had already witnessed some of Jesus’ actions in Capernaum, or heard Jesus speak about repentance. Perhaps he had seen Jesus as he walked through the streets with his first four disciples: Simon, Andrew, James, and John. Perhaps he had learned that people were coming from all over the countryside to be healed by Jesus. Maybe Matthew had even climbed a mountain along with a crowd of others to listen to Jesus preach about the blessedness of the poor in spirit, about loving one’s enemies, and about not laying up treasures on earth.
After he accepted Jesus’ invitation, Matthew invited his friends—public sinners just like himself—to eat dinner with his new teacher. Matthew was eventually named one of the Twelve, and after the Resurrection, he wrote his own account of the life of Christ. Tradition says that Matthew—or Levi, as the Gospels of Mark and Luke call him—preached the Good News to Jews for fifteen years, traveled to the east, and died a martyr in Persia, far away from his tax booth and his former way of life.
Lord Jesus Christ, grant us the grace to follow you
into the kingdom of heaven.
