Saint Matthew, apostle and evangelist – Feast · Gospel reading Matt 9,9-13.

In today’s Gospel from Matthew, we encounter a pivotal moment of radical inclusion. Jesus notices Matthew at his tax collector’s booth and extends a simple invitation: follow me. Without hesitation, Matthew leaves everything behind. What makes this encounter so striking is not Matthew’s immediate response, but what happens next.

Matthew hosts a dinner, and his guests are society’s outcasts—fellow tax collectors and those labeled as sinners. In first-century Jewish culture, these were people considered spiritually defiled and morally corrupt. Yet Jesus sits among them, eating and sharing table fellowship. When the Pharisees—the religious elite—witness this scene, they’re scandalized. They challenge his disciples, questioning why their teacher would associate with such people.

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Jesus’s response cuts to the heart of his entire mission. He offers a physician’s perspective: the sick need healing, not the healthy. Then he directs them to reflect on a teaching from the prophet Hosea, emphasizing that God desires mercy over rigid observance of rules. Finally, he states his purpose plainly: he came not for the righteous but for sinners.

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This passage speaks powerfully to our own lives. How often do we feel disqualified from God’s love because of our failures, our past, or our present struggles? The Pharisees believed righteousness came through flawless adherence to law. But Jesus reveals something liberating: God’s love isn’t a reward for the perfect. It’s a healing balm for the broken.

Matthew’s transformation began not with moral perfection but with an encounter and an invitation. His acceptance set him on a path that would eventually make him an apostle and evangelist. His story reminds us that following Jesus isn’t about earning worthiness—it’s about recognizing our need and responding to his call.

Today, reflect on where you feel broken or excluded. Jesus looks at you across the centuries with the same compassionate gaze he offered Matthew. He calls not the perfect but the honest, not the self-righteous but those willing to be healed. That invitation remains open.