St. Matthew the Apostle

St. Matthew the Apostle was one of the Twelve and is traditionally identified with the tax collector whom Jesus called from the customs post. In the Gospel, the call is direct and life-changing: “Follow me.” Matthew rises, leaves his work, and follows Christ. His old profession made him suspect in the eyes of many Jews, since tax collectors were often associated with Roman power and dishonest gain. Christ’s call therefore revealed mercy reaching into a despised place.

After his conversion, Matthew hosted a banquet where tax collectors and sinners gathered with Jesus. The Pharisees objected, but Christ answered that He had come not to call the righteous but sinners. Matthew’s own life became a living sign of that Gospel truth: the Lord did not merely forgive him privately; He made him an apostle.

Christian tradition also honors Matthew as an evangelist, author of the Gospel according to Matthew. This Gospel strongly emphasizes Christ as the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, the Messiah promised to Israel, the teacher of the Sermon on the Mount, and Emmanuel, God with us. The symbol of Matthew in Christian art is the winged man or angel, reflecting the Gospel’s opening genealogy and focus on the Incarnation.

Later traditions differ about his missionary field and death. Some accounts place his preaching in Ethiopia, Persia, or other regions, and many Western traditions honor him as a martyr. While details vary, the apostolic memory is firm: Matthew left a life of profit to become a witness of Christ and a writer of the Gospel.

He is patron of accountants, bankers, tax collectors, bookkeepers, and all who need conversion in the use of money. His life speaks powerfully because it begins with a sinner at a table and ends with an apostle proclaiming the mercy of the Kingdom.