Monday, September 21, 2015

Homily: Sept 21 2015 - Feast of St. Matthew - Sharing the Gospel of Mercy



We honor Saint Matthew as an apostle, an evangelist, and a martyr.  Matthew was a rather unlikely character to be called by Jesus as an apostle, but then again, one could say that about the group of unknown fishermen.  Matthew was a Jew who collected taxes from his fellow Jews on behalf of the occupying Roman forces. 

The Jews considered the occupation of a tax-collector an outrageous disgrace, they were named in one breath along with murderers, assassins, thieves, robbers, criminals, and prostitutes. No good Jew could even marry someone who had a tax-collector in the extended family.  They weren’t allowed in the Synagogue. They were total outcasts. So, imagine people’s shock when Jesus called such a man into his band of intimate followers.  The great artist Caravaggio paints the scene of the Calling of St. Matthew, and even Matthew is surprised by the call.  In the painting Jesus points to Matthew, as if to say, “I call him.” And Matthew points to himself in disbelief, as if to say, “You are calling ME?”

And we heard in today’s Gospel how our Lord approached the tax-collectors table and said, “Follow Me”. The Lord enters into Matthew’s life, the world of sinners, and invites him to a life he cannot possibly imagine. In Jesus, Matthew experienced a far greater treasure than he had ever collected.
And once you come to treasure Jesus, you want to share that treasure with others.  Matthew invited his fellow tax-collectors to dinner that they too may experience the mercy and salvation of the Lord. He writes a Gospel, to share with humanity that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah, the one whom the Jews longed for to lead them out of spiritual exile, and to establish the kingdom of God, Jesus is the one for whom leaving behind all of your sins, all of your earthly treasure, is worth it.

How many thousands, millions of people, have come to more deeply treasure the Lord because of Matthew’s witness? How many sinners were willing to turn away from their sinful lifestyle, because Matthew had the courage to follow the Lord?

So now it comes to us. Each of us has been called by the Lord, not because we were sinless like the Immaculate Virgin, but because we were like Matthew.  He called us out of the world of sinners that we might bring others with us to him.  How will you share Jesus with others today? How will you speak to others about Jesus’ merciful love?


May each of us take seriously this call to invite sinners to the Lord’s mercy, to spread the Gospel of Mercy, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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