Monday the 21st: Saint of the Week (St. Matthew the Evangelist)

 

Saint Matthew (Levi) (F), Apostle and Evangelist

                Dates:  September 21                          d.65    

                Place:  preached among Hebrews and Ethiopians; shrine in Salerno, Italy; possibly martyred in Persia

                Importance:  writer of first gospel; originally a tax collector; writer of Mt. 16:18 (Primacy of Pope); messianic and prophecy-fulfillment emphasis

                Name means:  gift of God

                Food/Symbol: young man, book cake, gold coins

                Patron:  bankers, bookkeepers

                Prayer:  “O God, you chose St. Matthew the tax collector to share the dignity of the apostles.  By following his example and benefiting by his prayers, may we always follow and abide by your will.”

We beseech You, Lord, with the prayers of Matthew, Your apostle and evangelist, 

to assist us that those things 

which by ourselves we cannot obtain may be granted to us through his intercession. 

                Quotes:  “There are points of contact between Matthew and rabbinical writings that are not found in the other gospels.  These points of contact are more than an interest in the Law and allusions to Jewish institutions.  Matthew sometimes moves in the world of rabbinical thought.  He not only is familiar with rabbinical dialect; he uses it.”—John L. McKenzie

                Readings:  Eph 4:1-7,11-13; Ps. 19; Mt. 9:9-13

 (Caravaggio's Call of St. Matthew, found on Pinterest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caravaggio?utm_source=Pinterest&utm_medium=organic#mediaviewer/File:Caravaggio,_Michelangelo_Merisi_da_-_The_Calling_of_Saint_Matthew_-_1599-1600_(hi_res).jpg)