16 November 2026 · Syro-Malankara Rite
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“Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” Matthew 9:13
Matthew sat at the tax booth, a collaborator with Rome, despised by his people. Jesus looked at him and said two words: “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. That evening Jesus ate at Matthew's house with tax collectors and sinners, and when the Pharisees objected he quoted Hosea: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” The doctor goes to the sick. Matthew, once a counter of coins, became the writer of the first Gospel.
Paul, a prisoner for the Lord, begs the Ephesians to live a life worthy of their calling, “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love”, keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. Every call, like Matthew's, is a call into one family.
Theme: “Follow me.”
The call of Matthew and the call to unity.
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”” Isaiah 6:8
“As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.” Matthew 9:9
Apply: Do at once one good thing you have postponed.
“For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” Hosea 6:6
“Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” Matthew 9:13
Apply: Show mercy to someone others avoid.
“I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all.” Ezekiel 37:22
“I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,” Ephesians 4:1–2
Apply: Be patient with one difficult person today.
Jesus still calls from the tax booth.
Answer, and live worthy of the call.
Take-home resolution: Read one chapter of St Matthew's Gospel each day this week.
Dear friends, today is the memory of Mar Mathai Shleeha, St Matthew the Apostle. Matthew sat at the tax booth, a collaborator with Rome, despised by his people. Jesus looked at him and said two words: follow me. And he got up and followed him. That evening Jesus ate at Matthew's house with tax collectors and sinners: I desire mercy, not sacrifice; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners (Matthew 9:9–13).
Paul urges us to lead a life worthy of our calling, with all humility, gentleness and patience: one body and one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all (Ephesians 4:1–6).
In this week after the Sunday of the Message to Zechariah we see whom God calls: an old priest, a tax collector. No one is too far away to be called. Today let us answer, here I am, and invite someone who has drifted away to our table. Amen.
Children, Jesus called Matthew whom everyone disliked, and ate at his house. Don't leave anyone out; Jesus loves everyone!
Lord Jesus, you called Matthew from his tax booth and ate with sinners. Call us again today, heal us with your mercy, and help us live worthy of our calling in humility and love. Amen.
Today the Syro-Malankara Church remembers Mar Mathai Shleeha, St Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist. The Gospel tells his call at the tax booth; the Epistle shows what every call leads to: a life worthy of it, lived in the unity of one body. The tax collector who got up and followed becomes a member, and a builder, of the one family of God.
Setting.
Ephesians falls into two halves. Chapters 1–3 praise God's plan to unite all things in Christ and to make Jews and Gentiles one body. Chapters 4–6 draw the practical consequences, and the first word, “therefore”, links the two. Paul writes as “the prisoner in the Lord” (see 3:1; 6:20).
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called,” (4:1)
A prisoner begs. Paul does not command from a position of power; his chains give weight to his plea.
“making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (4:3)
Unity is the Spirit's gift; we do not create it, but we must work hard to keep it.
“one Lord, one faith, one baptism,” (4:5)
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism sums up the unity of the Church in these verses: she acknowledges one Lord, confesses one faith, is born of one Baptism, forms one Body, is given life by one Spirit, for the sake of one hope (CCC 866). The Second Vatican Council's decree on ecumenism quotes “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” in describing the unity of the Church that all Christians are called to seek (Unitatis Redintegratio 2).
Setting.
Mark and Luke tell this call of a tax collector named Levi (Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27). The First Gospel names him Matthew, and in the list of the Twelve calls him “Matthew the tax collector” (10:3). The scene is Capernaum, on a trade road near the border, where tolls were charged on goods. Toll collectors worked for the ruling power, often overcharged, and were counted with sinners.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.” (9:9)
Two words of Jesus, and no words from Matthew: only action. “Got up” is the same verb used for rising from the dead.
““Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” (9:12)
“Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”” (9:13)
“Go and learn” is a rabbi's formula for sending students back to study a text. Hosea does not reject worship; he says that worship without mercy does not please God.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism quotes this verse to show that Jesus invites sinners to the table of the Kingdom (CCC 545). St Bede, preaching on this Gospel, said that Jesus looked at Matthew “by having mercy and by choosing” (miserando atque eligendo), the words Pope Francis took as his episcopal motto.
Are Matthew and Levi the same person?
The Church has generally understood so: the three Gospels tell the same scene, and only the First Gospel gives the tax collector the apostle's name, Matthew. Like Simon Peter, a person could carry two names.
The Malankara calendar keeps St Matthew on 16 November. Early tradition, recorded by Papias and Eusebius, says Matthew first gathered the sayings of the Lord in the Hebrew language; the traditions about the place of his preaching and martyrdom differ. In the Holy Qurbono the Gospel is read with lights and incense: we honour Matthew best by listening to the Gospel that bears his name.