Hello everyone and
welcome to Saint Study Episode #105 – “St. Matthew The Apostle”
Thank you for
joining us – maybe we can all learn enough today that by the end of
the program we will say, “I didn’t know that” (But now I do!)
What is a saint?
A Canonized Saint is someone recognized by the Church as having led a
life of great charity & heroic virtue. Their example of how to conquer
any sin imaginable is so important that it was worth recognizing these
men & women in a significant way. Anyone (canonized or not) whose soul
was cleansed in Purgatory and now resides in Heaven is a Saint.
We always begin our
learning by inviting the Holy Spirit to be with us…
In the Name Of The
Father, Son & Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dear Heavenly
Father we ask you to be with us as we hear about the lives of your
Saints. We ask that our minds be open and that you may fill us with
the knowledge that was so loved by the men and women who lived lives
of heroic virtue and great charity. Allow us to understand and emulate
these Saints who we now know are in your company. In your name we
pray, Amen.
Let’s look at The
Saint for this weeks study - St. Matthew The Apostle …
Saints Birth, Life,
Death, Feast Day,
Son of Alphaeus, he
lived at Capenaum on Lake Genesareth.
No data could be
found about his childhood other than his Fathers name and where he
lived.
He was a Roman tax
collector, a position equated with alliance with the enemy by those
from whom he collected taxes. (Publican)
Jesus Saw him in the
tax office and approached him and said, “Follow Me”
Jesus' colleagues
were astounded to see the Christ with a traitor, but Jesus made it
clear that he had come "not to call the just, but sinners."
(remember Rome was
center of world as reason for Vatican in Rome)
Matthew's Gospel
is given “pride of place” in the canon of the New Testament
The most quoted by
early Christians
He preached among
the Jews for 15 years; his audiences may have included the
Jewish enclave in Ethiopia, and Parthia & Persia.
Its purpose was to
convince Jewish readers that their anticipated Messiah had come in
the person of Jesus.
Many after Jesus
died began to wonder if Jesus was the Messiah or not.
The Gospel of
Matthew is the narrative of Jesus. (28 chapters)
The first three Gospels are similar
in telling of Jesus life.
St. Matthew composed
his Gospel in his native Aramaic, the "Hebrew tongue" mentioned in
the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles.
It is thought that
Matthew’s Gospel was composed while he was in Antioch. The capital
of the then Roman province of Syria.
Antioch was large
city populated by Greek speaking Gentiles & Jews.
You don’t have to
have a relationship to these patronages to ask for St. Matthew’s
prayers.
Conclusions –
Interesting notes about their life or sainthood
Jesus gives us another
example of how he doesn’t use the righteous to pass on His word.
He converts “sinners”
to pass on His message.
The Church is a
“hospital for sinners” not a monument to Saints.
Readings from a homily by
Saint
Bede the Venerable (saints.sqpn.com)
"Jesus saw a man called
Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him: Follow me." Jesus
saw Matthew, not merely in the usual sense, but more significantly with
his merciful understanding of men."
He saw the tax collector and, because he saw him through the eyes of mercy
and chose him, he said to him: "Follow me." This following meant imitating
the pattern of his life - not just walking after him. Saint John tells us:
"Whoever says he abides in Christ ought to walk in the same way in which
he walked."
"And he rose and followed him." There is no reason for surprise that the
tax collector abandoned earthly wealth as soon as the Lord commanded him.
Nor should one be amazed that neglecting his wealth, he joined a band of
men whose leader had, on Matthew's assessment, no riches at all. Our Lord
summoned Matthew by speaking to him in words. By an invisible, interior
impulse flooding his mind with the light of grace, he instructed him to
walk in his footsteps. In this way Matthew could understand that Christ,
who was summoning him away from earthly possessions, had incorruptible
treasures of heaven in his gift.
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1 Peter 3:15 - 16
…Always be ready to give an
explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it
with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear, so that,
when you are maligned, those who defame your good conduct in Christ may
themselves be put to shame.
![[painting of Saint Matthew]](saint_matthew_show_notes_files/image002.jpg)