St. Matthew - apostle

While St. Matthew does not occur in the Gospel stories, or at least frequently, we understand that he was part of this close group of Apostles.  More so as one of the Evangelists  Matthew shared the Word of God and made present the message and ministry of Jesus Christ.  This is part of what St. Paul would refer to as 'ministry' as he speaks to the Ephesians.  Matthew's words help to build up that edifice of the temple, which is the Body of Christ.

Matthew begins his Gospel with this lengthy genealogy of David's household, from which Jesus is connected.  The text itself is flawed, as are some of the individuals named there.  This is certainly not a listing of 'saintly' people.  But that is sort of the point.  Jesus Christ comes into a broken humanity, calling to himself imperfect people, to preach, proclaim, and make present the 'Good News.'  It is Jesus who will perfect men and women through the Paschal Mystery, bringing salvation and peace to all peoples.  Not only are we called to participate in this mystery of faith, but we also are ministers, disciples if you will, of the faith we profess.

Matthew is called away from his 'tax collector' job to follow Jesus.  He is not called out of the world, but will be sent into it so as to proclaim the Gospel.  There are folks that would like to see the Church, and its members, somehow removed from the culture so as to practice faith without the distractions of the world.  Even monks and nuns will tell you that escaping from the world is neither good nor is it desirable. We are to live out our baptismal vocation by sharing the story of our faith  life. 

St. Matthew makes the story of our salvation known through the Gospel he authored.  In our daily wanders we share the Good News in a variety of ways.  The manner is not always based in religion nor religious words.  It is using our gifts and talents to build up the Body of Christ.  Imperfect as we might be we have a calling to share our faith and faithfulness.  St. Matthew teaches us that by saying 'Yes' to Jesus Christ we can make his grace and blessing present to a broken world.