September 21, 2026 // Feast of Saint Matthew, Apostle and evangelist

Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 9:9-13

Reflect on the Word // 

As a shy child, I found it difficult to engage in conversation and make eye contact with others. I remember hoping that if I closed my eyes, I would become invisible to others. Much later, with the help of God and others, I began to understand that I wasn’t just a shy girl, but I was living under the heavy cloak of shame. I was afraid that if someone saw the real me, they would decide that I wasn’t worth loving.

And yet, long before I even knew Who Jesus was, He saw me. Eventually, His gaze of love captured my heart, and invited me to step out of my shame to follow Him.

Today we celebrate the Feast of Saint Matthew, and the Gospel reading penned by this Apostle is a strikingly simple and detached retelling of the most significant event of his life. Jesus saw Matthew with divine eyes—not as a greedy tax collector living on the fringe of Jewish society, but as the beloved lost sheep He came to rescue. 

Jesus’ two-word invitation to “follow him” was spoken amid the deafening clamor of the crowded street, and yet Matthew heard the Rabbi’s voice so clearly that “he got up and followed him” (Matthew 9:9). He didn’t make excuses, delay to clean up, or get his affairs in order. Another translation, “So he arose and followed him,” hints at the Resurrection (Matthew 9:9 New King James Version). Jesus invited Matthew to rise up from his self-focused life of worldly cares to a new and authentic life with Him. 

Wherever you right now, Jesus is passing by. Today, there is grace to once again be found by Jesus, to look up and to rise up from the noise, the mess, and the shame, and follow Him. 

Relate to the Lord // Place yourself in today’s Gospel and imagine Jesus inviting you to follow Him. How do you respond?