The Feast of St. Matthew
(Matthew 9)
The other day a social worker in a Catholic nursing home was doing what we might call “gospel therapy” on residents. She read the first part of a verse expecting the resident to complete it. It was amazing how many of the verses the aged resident knew so well that his response was automatic. For example, she might have said, “I am the way.” And the respondent would supply, “And the truth and the life.” Of course, the worker started verses from the Gospel According to Matthew which are etched in the resident’s memory like: “Blessed are the poor in spirit...”; “Come after me and I will make you...”; “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine...”
As with the other gospels we know little with certainty about the background of Matthew’s. Because its Greek language is refined, someone schooled in that language, and not in Hebrew, probably wrote it. Since it refers to the destruction of the Temple which occurred in the year 70 A.D., it was composed after that date. Its familiarity with the Jewish Scripture and customs suggests that the author intended it for a community with Jewish roots.
In the Gospel passage selected for today feast, Jesus characteristically quotes the Old Testament. The evangelist Matthew alters those words a bit, however. Where the prophet Hosea says that God wants mercy more than sacrifice, Jesus is quoted as saying that God wants mercy and not sacrifice. Whatever Jesus’ original words were, he also expresses his purpose for coming to the world. We should take them to heart because they contain the key to salvation. Let me begin the verse and have you complete it for yourselves: “I did not come to call the righteous...”
