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  • MATTHEW APOSTLE
  • SAINT MARY OF EGYPT
  • SAINT PELAGIA
  • SAINT DISMAS
  • SAINT AUGUSTINE
Matthew, the tax collector
According to the Gospels, Matthew was a 1st-century Galilean. Being a tax collector, it is expected that he would have been literate in both Aramaic and Koiné Greek. His fellow Jews, the Gospels explain, would have despised him for what was seen as collaborating with the Roman occupation force. The same Gospels explain Matthew invited Jesus home for a feast. On seeing this, the  Scribes and the Pharisees criticized Jesus for eating with tax collectors and renowned sinners. Jesus famously answered, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
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