About Today for

September 21

Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist

Feast

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts,” (Is. 55:8-9). [1][2]

When Jesus called St. Matthew he left everything, rose and followed Him. The Son of Man’s selection of St. Matthew, as a publican and tax-collector, emphasizes an important point in the plan of Redemption. Jesus invites all men to the Supper of the Lamb; regardless of culture, circumstance, or sinful past. St. Matthew was the son of Alpheus, a Galilean, and is one of the four Evangelists. His name means ‘gift of God’ in Hebrew and his emblem is a winged-man. [3][4]

Written by Sarah Ciotti
Reviewed by Fr. Hugh Feiss, OSB, STD
[1] Revised Standard Version, s.v., “Isaiah, The Book of.”
[2] Benedict XVI, Angelus, September 21, 2008.
[3] Benedict XVI, General Audience, August 30, 2006.
[4] Catholicpedia: The Original Catholic Encyclopedia (1917) for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. s.v. “St. Matthew.”