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By Saint Matthew’s Example: How Much Do I Follow Jesus? Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Matthew (September 21st). We all know the Gospel story. Jesus walks over to Matthew’s table, saying nothing but Follow Me! One has to understand the profession of Matthew. He was a tax collector. How the tax collector worked in collecting money is described within the Homily. However, the Jewish people hated tax collectors. They cheated the average citizen. How? Listen to the Homily. The Calling of Matthew We then hear that Jesus walks over to the tax collector’s table. What are the citizens thinking? Will Jesus pay a tax, like all the merchants? Will He reprimand all of the tax collectors? Simply, Jesus does neither of these things. He merely says Follow Me! Jesus Is Really Asking Matthew, and Us, to Imitate His Heart What Jesus is saying to Matthew is imitate Me in your heart and imitate Me in your actions. Imitate Me in who you are and then He begins to show him what He has to imitate. He goes with him to Matthew’s house. When they sit at table, He doesn’t sit with the righteous, the self-righteous, Pharisees, and the scribe. He sits with tax collectors. Jesus sits with sinners. He drinks and eats with them. This is what He is asking Matthew to imitate. For the whole world Matthew wrote his gospel in order that we may know that the promises of God have been fulfilled in Jesus and we must Follow Him. Not with our legs, but with our heart in His mercy. Not with sacrifice, but with the heart. Listen more to this Meditation Media. Listen to: By Saint Matthew’s Example: How Much Do I Follow Jesus? ------------------------------- Image: The Calling of St. Matthew: Italian Painter: Giovanni Battista Caracciolo: 1625 ------------------------------- Gospel Reading: Matthew: 23: 29-39