FEAST OF ST. MATTHEW. APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST   

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-13

Therefore I, the prisoner of Christ,

Invite you to live the vocation you have received. Be humble, kind, patient, and bear with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep among you the unity of Spirit through bonds of peace. Let there be one body and one spirit, for God, in calling you, gave the same Spirit to all. 

One Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God, the Father of all, who is above all and works through all and is in all. But to each of us divine grace is given ac­cording to the measure of Christ’s gift.

As for his gifts, to some he gave to be apostles, to others prophets, or even evangelists, or pastors and teachers. So he prepared those who belong to him for the ministry, in order to build up the Body of Christ, until we are all united in the same faith and knowledge of the Son of God.

Thus we shall become the perfect Man, upon reaching maturity and sharing the fullness of Christ.

 

Ps 19:2-3, 4-5

Their message goes out through all the earth.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Matthew 9:9-13

As Jesus moved on from there, he saw a man named Matthew at his seat in the custom-house, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And Matthew got up and followed him. Now it happened, while Jesus was at table in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and other sinners joined Jesus and his disciples.

 When the Pharisees saw this they said to his disciples, “Why is it that your master eats with those sinners and tax collectors?”  When Jesus heard this he said, “Healthy people do not need a doctor, but sick people do. Go and find out what this means: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

 

Gospel Reflection：

It is sad when you are working with money that will never be yours. Look at the cashiers counting bills and coins. Then there are those men driving armored cars guarding bags of money with their lives.

It can be a tiring and pointless job. Even Matthew, a revenue officer who earns from fraudulent collections, got tired. He wanted to redirect his pointless life. He yearns to count his wealth according to purpose.

Matthew was tired of collecting; he wanted to be the one collected. Jesus passed by and picked him up. Jesus collected him from his rotten condition. He was then counted like Peter.

We know Jesus’ words to Peter: “From now on, you will be fishing men.” Jesus implicitly tells Matthew: “From now on, you will be collecting souls of men and women.”