St. Matthew

Their story

Matthew, also called Levi, was a tax collector in Capernaum, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Tax collectors worked for the Roman occupiers and often grew rich by charging more than was owed, so they were despised by their neighbors as traitors and sinners. One day Jesus passed by Matthew's tax booth, looked at him and said, "Follow me." Matthew got up, left everything and followed Him. Matthew then held a great banquet in his home for Jesus, and many tax collectors and sinners came to eat with Him. When some religious leaders complained, Jesus answered, "Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners." He added, "Go and learn the meaning of the words, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'" Matthew became one of the twelve apostles, and the Gospel that bears his name has long been attributed to him. It was written especially for Jewish Christians and shows how Jesus fulfilled the promises of the Old Testament. It gives us the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes and the Lord's Prayer in the form we pray it. Tradition says Matthew preached the Gospel in distant lands and died as a martyr. His symbol is a winged man, because his Gospel begins with the human ancestry of Jesus.