Pope Benedict XVI Blog

Pope says St. Mathew provides a witness to the mercy of God

Vatican City, Aug. 30, 2006 (CNA) - Pope Benedict XVI traveled from his summer residence at Castelgandolfo, back to the Vatican to conduct his weekly General Audience with the faithful gathered in the Paul VI auditorium today. The Holy Father reflected with the crowd, on the mercy of God as evidenced by the life of St. Mathew the Apostle.

Christ, the Pope said, excludes no one from his call to friendship, and the story of the Apostle Matthew reminds Christians of this truth very clearly.

The Holy Father laid out the great disdain with which tax-collectors, such as Matthew, were seen in the Jerusalem of Jesus’s time. Tax-collectors, he said, “were considered public sinners.”

While the job itself was looked down upon, Matthew was also seen as “collaborating with a greedy and much hated foreign power.” The Pope pointed out that the disdain for tax collectors is found throughout the Gospels, with the profession often mentioned in the same breath as prostitutes and other sinners.
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posted by Dr. Denice Hanley, DPM, M.Div. @ 3:42 PM