The greatest 2nd Class Feast of the year!

In my opinion.

:)

Good old St. Matthew, who wrote his Gospel first, and whose Gospel keeps hammering home how Our Lord fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament. Know St. Matthew's Gospel well, and you will be that much more convinced in your Faith. You will have the Old Testament testifying as well that Our Lord had to be the Messiah.

It really is impressive evidence. I remember being impressed even as a kid when I read St. Matthew's Gospel.

And who can forget the miraculous events after the death of Our Lord! No other Evangelist mentions all of them.

[51] And behold the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top even to the bottom, and the earth quaked, and the rocks were rent. [52] And the graves were opened: and many bodies of the saints that had slept arose, [53] And coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, came into the holy city, and appeared to many. [54] Now the centurion and they that were with him watching Jesus, having seen the earthquake, and the things that were done, were sore afraid, saying: Indeed this was the Son of God.

It also helps to know that "the veil" was huge, several stories high, and about 10 to 12" thick! This event would have sent the Jєωs into paroxysms of hand-wringing and consternation.

This was sorely missing from The Passion of the Christ. It would have made it SO MUCH MORE impressive.

And we also have an example of a good response to a vocation: complete severing of one's ties with the world, and a bridge-burning dedication to one's vocation:

And when Jesus passed on from hence, he saw a man sitting in the custom house, named Matthew; and he saith to him: Follow me. And he rose up and followed him.

If you didn't realize it, the Evangelist performed a generous act here. There was no returning to his tax collecting after he left his table, money, etc. unattended and just abandoned his post with no notice. St. Peter (and the other ex-fisherman) could have gone back to fishing at any time -- theoretically, I mean. But St. Matthew would have had to find a new career and start over from scratch.

No one was more shunned by the Jєωs than a publican, who was a Jєω working for the Roman enemy by robbing his own people and making a large personal profit. Publicans were not allowed to trade, eat, or even pray with others Jєωs.

One day, while seated at his table of books and money, Jesus looked at Matthew and said two words: "Follow me." This was all that was needed to make Matthew rise, leaving his pieces of silver to follow Christ. His original name, "Levi," in Hebrew signifies "Adhesion" while his new name in Christ, Matthew, means "Gift of God." The only other outstanding mention of Matthew in the Gospels is the dinner party for Christ and His companions to which he invited his fellow tax-collectors. The Jєωs were surprised to see Jesus with a publican, but Jesus explained that he had come "not to call the just, but sinners."

St. Matthew is known to us principally as an Evangelist, with his Gospel being the first in the New Testament. His Gospel was written in Aramaic, the language that our Lord Himself spoke and was written to convince the Jєωs that their anticipated Messiah had come in the person of Jesus.

Not much else is known about Matthew. According to tradition, he preached in Egypt and Ethiopia and further places East. Some legends say he lived until his nineties, dying a peaceful death, others say he died a martyr's death.

In the traditional symbolization of the evangelists, based on Ezech. 1:5-10 and Rev. 4:6-7, the image of the winged man is accorded to Matthew because his Gospel begins with the human genealogy of Christ.

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2015-09-21