Apostleship of Prayer - Saints
September 21 - Matthew
Matthew has two names in the Gospels, Matthew and Levi. He was a tax collector for the occupying Roman forces. He collected taxes for the Romans from the Jews. Hence he was called a publican, which was also the equivalent to calling him a thief. While the Romans would not allow extravagant extortion, they did not mind if their tax collectors collected a little for themselves. Hence they were hated by their fellow Jews. They were lumped together with sinners by the good Jews. Matthew was honest enough to recognize the truth when he experienced it and so he got up and followed Jesus.
He got Jesus into trouble because of a farewell party. The Gospels tell us that he invited other tax-collectors and sinners to the party. The Pharisees were shocked by Jesus accepting to attend such a party. Tradition has it that he spent his life preaching the Gospel to the Jews.
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