Today, we celebrate the feast day of St Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist. Matthew collected taxes from his fellow Jews for the occupying Roman government. It was well known that tax collectors kept some of what they collected for themselves. Thus, they were the object of contempt in Jewish society. As we hear in today’s Gospel, Matthew leaves his post as tax collector in response to the call he receives from Jesus to become his disciples. Matthew is included in the list of the apostles as recorded in different books in the New Testament. From early times in Church history, Matthew is regarded as the author of the Gospel of Matthew. Modern biblical scholars believe that Matthew used the Gospel of Mark as source material in writing his Gospel. The Gospel of Matthew was written for a Jewish audience. Although the earliest surviving version of Matthew is in Greek, many scholars believe that it was originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic. Matthew’s Gospel contains mailing of the teachings of Jesus, making it a primary source material for catechetical teaching in the early Church. One tradition states that Matthew was sent to Ethiopia to bring the Gospel message, where he was martyred . The martyrology of Jerome states another tradition, that Matthew was martyred in Persia. We give thanks for the witness of Matthew today as we celebrate his feast day.
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