Feast of Saint Matthew, Apostle and evangelist
September 21, 2019
Today, in Mercy, we celebrate the feast of St. Matthew. The Gospel chosen for the day is Matthew’s own account of his call and the subsequent event lodged in his memory – the first meal he shared with Jesus.
Apparently Matthew’s house was a do-drop-in kind of house. Matthew’s friends easily gathered at the meal. Even the Pharisees got a view of his table.
I doubt that Matthew did the cooking. Perhaps his wife or mother, though never mentioned, were the true authors of his hospitality. She may have been that type of cook who lifts the sweet and savory scent of spices into the air, capturing in their welcome all who pass by.
Jesus settles in to that welcome as do his table companions – disciples, tax collectors and sinners. They seem comfortable in their shared humanity. But today, with Jesus, they are invited to the perfection of that humanity in his abundant grace. They too receive a call this day.
We know only how some of these guests responded to this amazing invitation in their lives.
- Matthew became an apostle and a saint.
- The Pharisees retreated to their self-protective criticisms and condemnations.
How the others embraced or rejected this graceful moment is left unspoken.
With every Eucharistic moment of our lives, Jesus invites us to humanity’s table – a table transformed by his becoming one of us. His presence changes us all from sinners, tax collectors, or however else we are categorized. With Jesus, we are simply God’s children, fed and replenished by mercy, changed by a sacred invitation.
May we be aware of our “eucharists ” today, every encounter with another human being. The table may or may not be visible in the everyday circumstances around which we gather. Jesus will not be visible either – unless we have the eyes to see him in ourselves and those with whom we share life.
Music: Come to the Table – Sidewalk Prophets
Lavish Mercy 
James warns us in his Epistle that, when we pass judgment and condemnation on others, we make ourselves out to be the law. This could be another way of saying that we place ourselves above the law and beyond its reach by presuming that everyone other than ourselves are sinful and held accountable before God. How often we condemn others for their actions simply because we own out of pride that we would never do such a thing with no thought given to the things we did do but shouldn’t according to the divine law.
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