Thoughts on the Lessons for the Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist, Sept. 22, 2019. (The feast of the patron or title of a church may be observed on or transferred to a Sunday, except in the seasons of Advent, Lent, and Easter.)

Saint Matthew and the Angel (1602), oil painting on canvas by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610). Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading: Proverbs 3:1-6

We celebrate the Feast of St. Matthew with readings chosen to reflect the tradition of the tax collector turned apostle and evangelist. In our first reading, the Book of Proverbs advises us to keep God’s commandments and use them to guide our lives, If we do so, Proverbs assures us, we will be amply rewarded with a good life and good reputation. This message, perhaps reminding us of Matthew’s conversion from hated tool of empire to faithful follower and recorder of Christ, is echoed in the day’s psalm and second reading.

Psalm: Psalm 119:33-40

The Psalmist’s message, drawn briefly from the longest of all the psalms, is similar and simple: Learn God’s laws and commandments and follow them faithfully. God’s way turns us away from what is worthless. God’s way gives life.

Second Reading: 2 Timothy 3:14-17

The second letter of Timothy, one of the short pastoral epistles written in Paul’s name, offers guidance to a growing church. It mirrors the Psalmist’s call for unity in tradition guided by Scripture. But when you hear it, remember that in this early time, the New Testament was not yet assembled into a book, and the four Gospels were only then being written down. “Scripture” meant the Old Testament, with Torah’s command to love God, love our neighbor, and care for the poor and the alien. This is good advice in any age.

Gospel: Matthew 9:9-19

Matthew was a tax collector, a position that would have made him roundly despised in ancient Israel: The tax collector preyed on his neighbors on behalf of the hated Roman empire. But when Jesus called him, Matthew followed … and then they sat down to dinner in Matthew’s house. Having mercy and calling sinners is Jesus’s way, not self-righteously looking down on those we consider beneath us.