Matthew was an despised member of Jewish society.

He worked for the Romans, drawing money from the locals in order to fulfill his quota as well as to provide for his own needs. This is why tax collectors were always associated with sinners. He had no friends except those others that the group had labeled and ostracized as helpless and hopeless. But Matthew was more than that: he changed, big time and immediately at the words of Christ. He must have been searching / waiting / longing for someone to come and show him a way out of the life that he knew would never fulfill him. This shows even more clearly because he has a party and invites all his associates, all the other "tax collectors and sinners" to come and meet the man who has saved him from a lost, confused, meaningless life. Here's another few quick lessons we can learn from the story: 1. God calls us in the midst of our daily lives, even as it is colored with our imperfections and sins. 2. To follow God, we have to leave behind our past and all those things that pull us away from God. We have to let God's grace work in the present and not let the past stifle it. 3. The greatest sinner can be turned into a magnificent saint by the grace of God, even to be holier than those who thought themselves "perfect." This is what happened in St. Paul's life also: on the road to Damascus Paul had an encounter with the Risen Lord that changed him forever. Here today in Eph. 4, we hear that key insight that Paul had on the road: "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" Not my followers, me. And from this, Paul makes the realization: the Christians are the Body of Christ in the world, with Jesus as the head and we the members. He tells us today that every member has a different job for building up the body, and that body must be united in peace. We must do our part in building up the body of Christ. Are we

helping each other, or tearing each other down? Are we casting people out as "not part of the group" or are we fostering unity? "I desire mercy, not sacrifice," the words Christ spoke today, are hand-in-hand with what Paul says to us: "with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love." The only way to attain the unity and peace that God calls us to, we must be instruments of mercy. We all mess up, we all sin, we all need forgiveness from God and from each other. (From God is my job, come to confession). From each other is your job, be humble enough to apologize, to ask for forgiveness. Be humble enough to forgive from your heart. Give God the greatest gift of all, greater than any sacrifice you could offer: give God the gift of mercy toward others. Saint Matthew, pray for us.