We praise you O God, we acclaim you as Lord; the glorious company of apostles praise you. Today’s Gospel acclamation sums up what we do whenever we celebrate the life of a saint. The lives of saints are celebrated, not of their own accord, but rather for what God made out of them (of course this does not take away the fact that they were fully human and lived their saintly lives as human persons). What this says is that by their way of life, the saints pointed to someone other than themselves. If they lived lives of generosity, it was because they realized that they were not the source of the gifts they shared with others. The saints are not a unique group of people. They are not “drafted” from a particular group. The saints, as our first reading reminds us, are a graced people. They are those who endeavored to live lives in a manner worthy of their call as sons and daughters of God.
Today the Church honors St. Matthew, a tax collector-turned-apostle and evangelist. As a tax collector, he was considered a sinner because of what his career involved. Not only was he considered a collaborator with the very people who were oppressing his people, but he also took advantage of his position and cheated people by overtaxing them. When Matthew encountered Jesus and received the call, he did not hesitate to leave his past behind him in order to follow Jesus. Jesus must have reminded him where true riches are to be found. And for the remainder of his life, he strived to pursue true riches. Tradition holds that he preached in Judaea and Ethiopia where he was martyred. St. Matthew is the patron of accountants and customs officers.
We honor St. Matthew’s memory today, not only because of what God made out of him, but also because he was able to cooperate with God in his transformation. Matthew opened himself to the promptings of the Holy Spirit even as he embarked on a journey whose destination he was yet to find out. When Jesus called out to him, he did not ask many questions. Rather, he trusted Jesus and let him lead him to the destination of that journey. Like most of the saints, Matthew perhaps never got all the answers to the many questions he might have wanted to ask. He might never have gotten the assurance (security) that we all seek in life. But he trusted in Jesus and let Jesus and his message lead him. We celebrate him today because of this resolve, for sainthood consists in nothing other than laying claim to Jesus as Lord of one’s life.