chameleon?
“Now it happened that, while Jesus was at table in Matthew’s home, many tax collectors and those known as sinners came to join Jesus and His disciples at dinner.” —Matthew 9:10
The Lord may have been making a statement in choosing a businessman (and a disreputable one at that) to compile the first book of the New Testament. The Lord does not believe in the separation of faith from life, church from business, and even church from state (as we erroneously understand it).
We are not to be Christians on Sunday but secular humanists on Monday. We must not be one way at church and different at home or work. The Lord does not believe in spiritual split personality disorder. He did not make us “bi-polar” spiritually; He makes us integral persons. Our faith is to be our life and not separated from our life. Our faith is not to “go out of business” but to “get down to business.” We are to discover or invent the means to permeate the culture with the gospel (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 899). We are not chameleons but disciples of Christ in any circumstances, even in anti-Christian environments. Be the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Mt 5:13-14).
Prayer: Father, send the Holy Spirit so that my faith will permeate my work.
Promise: “It is He Who gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers in roles of service for the faithful to build up the body of Christ.” —Eph 4:11-12
Praise: St. Matthew’s Gospel concludes with the promise of Jesus: “I am with you always” (Mt 28:20).
Reference: (Celebrate the feast of St. Matthew by viewing, downloading or ordering our Simple Reading Guide to the Gospels of Matthew and Mark on our website and using them while reading Matthew’s gospel.)
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