Saint Matthew, Patron

In the Fifties, the flagship parish of Tulsa, Trinity, in a paroxysm of evangelical fervour, founded four mission churches in its environs: St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John.  Located on the four points of the compass, all these are still extant, though St. Mark and another congregation were later merged to become St. Aidan's.

In the three great traditions of Christ's One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church -- Roman, Orthodox, and Anglican -- it is customary to place each new congregation under the protection of a Saint for whom it is named.  Thus, Saint Matthew, tax agent of the first century, is our Patron.  He is an interesting character.  As a Jew who collected taxes for the occupying enemy, the Roman Empire, he was despised by co-religionists, who shunned the traitorous tax collector, and were aware that most were con-artists who charged for their fee whatever the market would bear.  A pious Jew would not even marry into a family that contained a single tax collector.  Jesus rejected that kind of harsh judgmentalism; indeed one of his most powerful stories is about a proud Pharisee whose judgmental prayer was rejected even as God honoured the prayer of the very tax agent he criticised, when the tax man prayed, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner."  Jesus liked to turn things upside down.

We see that in today's pericope [Mt. 9: 9-13] depicting the call of Matthew.  He is in his tax booth where goods going out of Palestine were charged a toll (a rate set by Rome but then augmented by any amount the tax agent could get away with adding on).  Jesus says "Follow me," Matthew does immediately follow.  Then later the new recruit throws a dinner party for Jesus at which Pharisees bitch and moan because Jesus and his disciples are eating and drinking with people like Matthew and other outcasts.

After the Resurrection, Matthew was an effective evangelist in Judaea, then travelled east and was martyred.  That is why our liturgical colour today is red.  The gospel later named in his honour is truly Jewish-Christian and its Jewish provenance is seen in the emphasis of deeds over words, and especially a person's religious obligations to neighbours, family, even enemies.  And the capstone of the Matthaean gospel is the Sermon on the Mount, which contains many things to do, not one doctrine or dogma to profess.

Matthew's life teaches us the importance of discernment and then bold action in response, (Be sure you are right, then go ahead, as Abraham Lincoln said).   When Matthew read who Jesus was, he was all in, forever.  His life also teaches us the importance of perseverance; his ministry was rich and full, continuing to the end of his life.

Saint Matthew, teach us to read the signs of the times, to respond to God's call on our lives, and to live out that response forever.  And, to aid us in fulfilling our mission, Saint Matthew, pray for us.