Revolutionary of Tenderness: St Matthew
By Joshua Stancil
The Calling of St Matthew by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, 1600
September 21: Feast of St Matthew
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’” (Mt 25:31-40, NRSVCE)
Back in early March, just days before the Covid lockdowns began, I was in Chicago for a series of talks sponsored by Kolbe House, the archdiocese’s prison ministry center. The topic of the talks was, of course, prison ministry. More specifically, it was the why of prison ministry. When asked, “Why should Catholics involve themselves in this outreach?” the answer is usually, “Well, it’s one of the Seven Corporal Works of Mercy.” Which of course it is – the Seven Corporal Works of Mercy being inspired precisely by this passage from Matthew’s Gospel.
But as I mentioned during my talk, I wonder if we appreciate the oddness that Jesus mentions prison in this discourse recounted by Matthew. He sounds a strange note at the very end, a discordant coda. Hunger, thirst, loneliness, nakedness, illness – these are conditions that arouse our compassion because they generally afflict the innocent. Prison, however, is generally reserved for the guilty. Christ’s inclusion of the imprisoned – the guilty – can therefore seem a provocation.
Because it is a provocation.
What Christ is saying – and what strikes Matthew so acutely that he alone among the Evangelists will later recount the words – is that in this life we will always need food, we will always need water, we will always need companionship, we will always need clothing, and we will always need forgiveness, prison being the stark visual signifier of this need.
Why was Matthew the only Evangelist to remember these words? Why were they so important to him? Perhaps because Matthew, unique among the apostles, had been a tax collector for an occupying force, a sinner and traitor despised by his own people. He must have felt himself to be a man bent crooked by the weight of his shame and the awareness of his own weakness and greed. But then Christ happened by. He visited Matthew in the prison of the man’s own limitations, a prison from which he had despaired of emerging. Jesus looked upon Matthew with a mercy that alone is the true catalyst for change. Two thousand years later St Maximilian Kolbe would describe this Christian phenomenon with a sparkling simplicity: “Only love creates.”
Festival of Friendship 2020
Nobody Flees From Love: The Making of Unguarded
Join us Saturday, October 10, at 6:00 p.m. for a look at the making of Unguarded, an extraordinary new documentary from Brooklyn-based filmmaker Simonetta d’Italia Wiener. Simonetta will be joined by T.J. Berden, the film’s Producer; Barbara Gagliotti, Foundations Office Director for AVSI-USA; Gisela Solymos, Coordinator for Productive Inclusion at SEBRAE SP; Esmeralda Negron, Assistant Public Defender for Florida’s 15th Judicial Circuit; and Denio Marx Menezes, Director of International Relations for FBAC.
