St. Matthew
St. Matthew, one of the twelve Apostles, is the author of
the first Gospel. This has been the constant tradition of
the Church and is confirmed by the Gospel itself. He was
the son of Alpheus and was called to be an Apostle while
sitting in the tax collectors place at Capernaum. Before
his conversion he was a publican, i.e., a tax collector by
profession. He is to be identified with the "Levi" of Mark
and Luke.
His apostolic activity was at first restricted to the
communities of Palestine. Nothing definite is known about
his later life. There is a tradition that points to
Ethiopia as his field of labor; other traditions mention
of Parthia and Persia. It is uncertain whether he died a
natural death or received the crown of martyrdom.
St. Matthew's Gospel was written to fill a sorely-felt
want for his fellow countrymen, both believers and
unbelievers. For the former, it served as a token of
his regard and as an encouragement in the trial to come,
especially the danger of falling back to Judaism; for
the latter, it was designed to convince them that the
Messiah had come in the person of Jesus, our Lord, in
Whom all the promises of the Messianic Kingdom embracing
all people had been fulfilled in a spiritual rather than
in a carnal way: "My Kingdom is not of this world." His
Gospel, then, answered the question put by the disciples
of St. John the Baptist, "Are You He Who is to come, or
shall we look for another?"
Writing for his countrymen of Palestine, St. Matthew
composed his Gospel in his native Aramaic, the "Hebrew
tongue" mentioned in the Gospel and the Acts of the
Apostles. Soon afterward, about the time of the
persecution of Herod Agrippa I in 42 AD, he took his
departure for other lands. Another tradition places the
composition of his Gospel either between the time of
this departure and the Council of Jerusalem, i.e.,
between 42 AD and 50 AD or even later. Definitely,
however, the Gospel, depicting the Holy City with its
altar and temple as still existing, and without any
reference to the fulfillment of our Lord's prophecy,
shows that it was written before the destruction of the
city by the Romans in 70 AD, and this internal evidence
confirms the early traditions.
Your One Of The Closest Friends I've Got
And I want you to know that
For all we've been through
All the sharing, the encouragement
The serious and the silly times
And the just - being - together times,
I've come to appreciate you so much.
Whenever I think of you,
I think of a very special friend
Who makes my world a better place to be
And this seemed like the perfect time
For saying thanks so much…
For sharing your friendship with me.
I Am So Grateful That We're Friends
I'm so thankful that we're friends,
That we can laugh together
And open our hearts to each other
Your warmth is a special joy to me,
Your understanding gives me strength.
I'm so grateful that we're friends,
That we can help each other
Through the rough times with
Kind words and honest caring.
Your inner beauty shines brightly;
You are wonderful to me,
And I thank you for bringing
Your love and friendship into my life.
