by Joel V. Ocampo
This September 21, the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist. In the Gospel for the day’s Liturgy (Mt. 9:9-13), we hear the story of the call of St. Matthew. We were told that “As Jesus passed on from Capernaum, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.” After this, Matthew prepared a feast where he and the other tax collectors ate with Jesus (Mt. 9:10-11).
Like Nathanael who is also known as St. Bartholomew, St. Matthew’s name means gift of God. The English name “Matthew” came from “Ματθαῖος” (Matthaios), which was a Greek form of the Hebrew name “מַתִּתְיָהוּ” (Mattityahu) meaning “gift of Yahweh.” If we read the twenty-eight chapters of the Gospel written by St. Matthew, we can learn three things that we can also do so that we can also become “gift of Yahweh.”
St. Matthew, an Apostle and an Evangelist
PROCLAIM THAT GOD IS WITH US
The first chapter of the Gospel immediately says, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means “God is with us” (Matthew 1:23). Then, in the last chapter of the Gospel, Jesus declared, “Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). Throughout the Gospel, St. Matthew records various stories that show that God is truly with us.