Gospel: September 21, 2024
(Saturday)
Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist
Psalter: Proper / (Red)
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 19: 2-3, 4-5
Their message goes out through all the earth.
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, just as one hope is the goal of your calling by God. 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.
Gospel: Matthew 9: 9-13
As Jesus moved on from there, he saw a man named Matthew, at his seat in the customhouse; 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 sinners joined Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why is it, that your master eats with 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.”
Reflection: “He came to call sinners.”
The Gospel tradition identified St. Matthew to be a tax collector. Mark (cf. Mk 2:13- 17) and Luke (cf. Lk 5:27-32) named him Levi. He is one of the Twelve Apostles. The first Gospel in the arrangement of our Christian Bible versions is attributed to him. Hence, Matthew is also identified as an evangelist. Based on the Gospel accounts, he was called by Jesus while he was sitting at his custom-post. He was a tax collector, belonging to the known public sinners in Jesus’ time. He followed Jesus. Today’s Gospel narrates that after being called, Matthew held a meal where Jesus and his disciples were present. Tax collectors and other public sinners were there, too. The Pharisees were quick to question why Jesus ate and associated himself with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus put it clearly—that he came to call not the righteous but sinners. Now, we are challenged to emulate Jesus. The farther on we move in this faith journey, the more we should be able to recognize our sinfulness. We must not forget that we have embarked on this journey not because we are already righteous. Jesus called us into this journey because we are sinners.
