When we preach the gospel, we must think not of glory or profit, but only of the salvation of souls. Our aim must not be to make followers for ourselves, but to lead sinners to Christ, that they may find forgiveness and life. We must direct the eyes of all people to where our own eyes are directed: to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto us, and we unto the world.

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.”