It has been quite a streak of religious holidays! Rosh Hashanah and Eid were both celebrated over the weekend and now… It’s the Feast of St. Matthew (September 21st)!Okay, many of you may not be familiar with the significance of the Feast of St. Matthew so here’s the scoop:
Matthew is one of the Twelve Apostles named in the New Testament of the Christian Bible and is the author or the inspiration for the Book of Matthew. He was a tax collector – sometimes referred to as a “publican” – among the Jews, which was a pretty unpopular job back then, even worse than it is now. In the time of the Romans, tax collectors didn’t receive a salary; they were expected to earn a commission, of sorts, by collecting whatever extra they could in the guise of taxes. Most were cheats and widely despised. In fact, even Jesus lumped them together with the worst of the worst, having dinner with a group of people so terrible that the Pharisees were prompted to ask, “Why does your teacher eat with tax-collectors and sinners?”
Today, Matthew is recognized as a Saint in the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican churches.
He is the patron saint of:
Accountants
Bankers
Bookkeepers
Tax collectors
