Matthew was a publican, a tax collector. Publicans, whose job it was to collect taxes from the people, were not government officials, but private entrepreneurs who provided a tax collection service to the state. They had to earn their own money, and this often led to extortion and abuse of power – a temptation that is easy to condemn… and easy to give in to.

It is sometimes said that all people are for sale, it just depends on what’s on the price tag. Most people, most souls, are unfortunately sold for a rather low price: we have probably all been in a situation where something seems so desirable that we are tempted to give up for its sake even something that is priceless.

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus,” writes Saint Paul in the Epistle of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, and continues with the proclamation of how Christ humbled Himself, gave up everything that rightfully belonged to Him as the Son of God, and became obedient to the point of death on the cross in order to redeem us by giving Himself for us.

What is law? One possible definition is this: “Law refers to a system of rules that regulate the conduct of a community and is often enforced by a controlling authority through penalties.” Law tells us what we are allowed to do and what we are not allowed to do – like in the Ten Commandments: “Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Honour thy father and thy mother.”

Saint Paul was not inclusive in modern terms. On the contrary, he was extremely exclusive. Thus, he says at the beginning of the Epistle to the Galatians: “As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” Similarly, in today’s Epistle to the Corinthians, he says: “I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.”

Saint Bartholomew was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. His full name is Nathanael Bartholomew – Nathanael, the son of Tolmai. The name Nathanael means "gift of God". How Jesus called him to be one of his disciples is told in the first chapter of the Gospel of Saint John:

“Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.”