Holy Mass at the Church of Our Saviour

Homily of His Eminence Cardinal Pietro Parolin

New York, 21st September 2026

Dear sisters and brothers,

In the Letter to the Ephesians we have just heard, St. Paul describes himself as a prisoner of Christ and, by all indications, tried to live as such. For him, being a prisoner of Christ was not only a temporary circumstance of being physically in prison, but a metaphor for his new life and vocation: a disciple of Christ who no longer followed his own will, but the will of Christ. In fact, he affirms elsewhere that “it is no longer I who live, but it is Jesus Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). For this reason, the Apostle of the Gentiles emphasizes his status as prisoner of Christ in order to remind his listeners that they, too, as disciples of Christ, are called to do the same: to live no longer according to their inclinations and ambitions, but rather their new dignity and status as Christians, as those who belong to Christ.

We can rightly say that St. Paul invites us, too, since we are children of God and disciples of Christ, to follow his example in living in Christ in our various walks of life, and we have to do so, at least, for two main reasons. Firstly, because it is God’s plan that, in our different areas of life, we seek to do his will, not our own. We do not have to follow our own whims and caprices. Everything must be to the glory of God and the good of humanity. Secondly, and perhaps most importantly for our celebration this evening, by living in a way that differs from our own calling or status, we neglect our nature; we become defaulters, inauthentic.

In fact, we know from ancient Greek philosophers that virtue (arete) lies in function (ergon). Aristotle, for instance, would hold that a knife’s virtue lies in cutting. Therefore, a knife that does not cut well or cannot cut at all is not a knife; it is not useful as a knife (Nicomachean Ethics, 1, 7). And by analogy, we can say that the virtue of diplomacy is to bring diplomatic solutions; the virtue of a representative of a nation is the pursuit of the common good of everyone in that nation; the virtue of a Christian is to live daily by the teachings of Jesus Christ; the virtue of an apostle – today we celebrate the Feast of St. Matthew – is to live as an apostle.

That is precisely what St. Matthew did – living like an apostle, from apostellein – an envoy, a messenger, a representative of Christ till the very end of his life. He used to be a tax collector, and was an effective one, even to the point that his fellow countrymen despised and isolated him, and even took offense at Jesus for daring to eat in his house, by asking: “Why does your Master eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Mt. 9;10-11). So, we can say that he really had the “virtue” of a tax collector. Today, however, we celebrate his Feast because when he became an apostle, he gave all he had to be a remarkable apostle. He preached Christ not only in words, but also through his actions, even to the point of dying for the sake of Christ.

Christian Tradition holds that he is the human person behind the Gospel according to Matthew, as his legacy to humanity is that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the fullness and fulfillment of God’s promises. Thanks to this Book of the Gospel, many have come to know God, and many more follow Christ in their day-to-day life. For this reason, we can also rightly hold that St. Matthew had the “virtue” of an apostle. He is an example for us of what it means to live out unrelentingly the virtue of our professions and assignments in the family, in the Church, in society, at the United Nations, etc.

Yes, St. Matthew lived out the virtue of an apostle unrelentingly, despite the challenges and drawbacks he faced in his lifetime. In fact, as mentioned earlier, we know that, in St. Matthew’s time, tax collectors were branded sinners by their countrymen because they were seen as against the faith of the people and their nation, since they enriched foreign powers at the expense of locals. Ironically, even the Roman authorities – for whom they collected taxes – looked down on them, because they were not true members of the Roman Empire.

Yet, none of these setbacks stopped St. Matthew from being the best he could be with the opportunity he had. His road was not easy; but neither is ours. For us, too, the challenges of life are not, and will not be easy. Sometimes, we may even feel that, instead of improving, many things tend to take a turn for the worse. Yet, we should not give up. We do not have to be discouraged in our undertakings to be the best we can be with the opportunities we have. We should not be discouraged by the sacrifices we sometimes have to make. St. Matthew followed Christ in doing good to all, without exception. This, too, should be our life goal wherever we are. May the grace of God continue to assist us through the intercession of St. Matthew. Amen!