TLDR: As we shift from the year of Luke to the year of Matthew beginning November 30, we will encounter a Messiah who calls us to a lived discipleship—one that bears real fruit. Matthew presents Jesus as the fulfillment of Scripture and invites us into a lifestyle shaped by love of God and neighbor. May this new Church year deepen our faith and transform our way of life.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. Please know that I am praying for you this week. May God continue to shower you with his blessings as we start a new liturgical year together this weekend. We completed the Year of Luke on November 23, and we now enter the Year of Matthew in Advent, beginning November 30. For the coming Church year, our Gospel readings will be drawn almost exclusively from Matthew. Many assume Matthew is simply Mark with additions, since Matthew incorporates about 90% of Mark’s content — roughly half of Matthew’s Gospel. But Matthew is far more than an enlarged copy. As Beare notes in The Gospel According to Matthew, “The structure of Matthew is not determined by the narrative, but by the succession of great discourses.” Matthew uses Mark, but shapes his own distinctly structured and theological presentation of Jesus, the kingdom, and the Church.

Matthew is the most Jewish of all the gospels. His intent is to create a pattern for the Christian way of life, which resembles the life of Christ himself. Matthew sees Christ as the fulfillment of the prophesies given to Israel by God, which were preserved in the Jewish Scriptures. Jesus Christ has inaugurated by his words and actions the kingdom of God on earth. “In his life and death, all has come to pass in accordance with the prophetic scriptures... (Mt 1:22)” (Beare, 5). Christ is the fulfillment of Israel’s scripture, but their rejection of the Messiah has opened the promises made to Israel to all peoples of the world, open to all who do the will of God. Saying that you are a descendant of Abraham or Moses will no longer ensure your salvation, if you have rejected God’s Messiah (Mt. 8:11). In fact, saying that you believe in Jesus, when that faith is void of any fruit that is expected of true disciples of Christ, will not be sufficient (Mt. 7:21).

This emphasis on a Christian Ethic has made the Gospel of Matthew a favorite of many Christians who emphasize a “works-righteousness ethic”. We see this ethic especially evident in the five major discourses placed by Matthew within his Gospel. Each concludes with a distinct formula marking its end. They are:

1. The Sermon on the Mount — Matthew 5:1–7:29
   “When Jesus had finished these sayings…” (7:28–29)
   This section includes: The Beatitudes, Salt and Light, The Law and the Prophets, Anger, Adultery, Divorce, Oaths, Retaliation, Love of Enemies, Almsgiving, Prayer, Fasting, Treasures, The Sound Eye, Serving Two Masters, Do Not Worry, Judging Others, Ask–Search–Knock, The Golden Rule, The Narrow Gate, A Tree and Its Fruit, Self-Deception, Hearers and Doers.
2. Missionary Instructions — Matthew 9:36–11:1
   “After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples…” (11:1)
   Includes: The Harvest, The Twelve Apostles, The Mission of the Twelve, Coming Persecutions, Teaching on Fear, No Peace but a Sword, Rewards.
3. Parables of the Kingdom — Matthew 13:1–52
   “When Jesus had finished these parables…” (13:53)
   Includes: The Sower, Purpose of Parables, Explanation of the Sower, Wheat and Weeds, Mustard Seed, Yeast, Use of Parables, Explanation of the Weeds, Three Small Parables, Treasures New and Old.
4. Life in the Community — Matthew 18:1–35
   “When Jesus had finished saying these things…” (19:1)
   Includes: True Greatness, Temptations to Sin, The Lost Sheep, Correcting One Who Sins, Forgiveness, The Unforgiving Servant.
5. The Judgment Discourse — Matthew 23:1–25:46
   “When Jesus had finished saying all these things…” (26:1)
   Includes: Against Scribes and Pharisees, Lament over Jerusalem, Temple Destruction Foretold, End of the Age, Persecution Foretold, The Desolating Sacrilege, Coming of the Son of Man, The Fig Tree, Watchfulness, Faithful and Unfaithful Slave, Ten Bridesmaids, Talents, Judgment of the Nations.

I encourage you to spend time reading these five speeches of Matthew and become familiar with the message of this beloved evangelist. Matthew wants us to recognize that Jesus of Nazareth is the fulfillment of the Jewish Scripture. Perhaps this is the reason why he divides his book into five sections, giving us the message that Christ’s New Law is the new Pentateuch. For Matthew, to belong to Christ requires a way of being, a lifestyle which produces the fruits of a true disciple. It is no longer sufficient to be a descendant of Abraham or Moses. Jesus fulfilled the old law, and it is now the new law, as fulfilled and interpreted by Jesus, that requires our obedience. The whole law and the teaching of the prophets now hang on the commandments to love God above all things and your neighbor as yourself (22:34-40). God’s promises to his people are now open to all those who do the will of God. We are all each other’s neighbors, which means that we are responsible to care for each other in the way that Jesus has cared for us.

This coming year, as we listen to Matthew’s Gospel, may we allow Christ’s words to shape our minds, our habits, and our way of life. May His sacrificial love, fulfilled on the Cross, move us to become true disciples, known by our fruits.

Blessings to all,

Fr. Roman+