Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Matthew, the apostle. A great saint and one of those who wrote a gospel. But Matthew wasn’t always a very religious man. In fact, he used to be a tax collector and sinner. Jesus asked him to follow, and that totally changed Matthew’s life, turned it upside down. From being a sinner, he became a faithful apostle and a great saint. But the Pharisees didn’t appreciate the fact that Jesus was spending time with sinners and tax collectors. In their minds, He should avoid them, stay away. Christ’s respond is brilliant: “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” Aren’t we all sinners? Yes, we are. So then, what? According to those Pharisees, the Lord should be avoiding us too. But we need Jesus, we need His love and healing, just like St. Matthew. We need to ask Jesus to come to us and to heal us, so we too can become saints.
