MATTHEW, APOSTLE & EVANGELIST

                  MATTHEW, APOSTLE & EVANGELIST

                                by

                         Harriet Shikoski

To my readers;

     Many details included in this story of Matthew originally known as Levi, originated in the visions of Ven. Anne Catherine Emmerick (1774-1824).  She was a German Augustinian nun who was told in vision that she was privileged to receive more visions than had any other person in history.  Her visions were recorded by Clemens Brentano, arranged and edited by the Very Reverend Carl E. Schmoger, C.SS.R., and translated from German to English.  In my turn I have also picked and arranged the material.

     How true are the details acquired in this fashion?  Even conceding that the private revelations to Sr. Anne Catherine were accurate, it would be a miracle indeed if they retained such accuracy after passing through so many different human minds.  Bible references are given, not to prove the truth of what is written here, but to allow you to compare the two sources.

     Though the total accuracy may be questioned, I still believe that the following story of St. Matthew helps us to understand him, his relationship to Jesus, and the culture in which they lived.

                  MATTHEW, APOSTLE & EVANGELIST

     Levi, later known as Matthew, was the son of Alpheus and his first wife (Mark 2:14).  After Alpheus became a widower, he married Mary Cleophas, the daughter of Cleophas and Mary Heli, the elder sister of the Blessed Virgin.  Alhough Mary Cleophas was a first cousin of Jesus, she was closer in age to His Mother than she was to Jesus.

     Mary Cleophas and her sons had had no close communication with Jesus since His childhood.  They knew in general of Simeon's and Anna's prophesies on the occasion of His Presentation in the Temple, but they attached no importance to them.  The sons began to follow John the Baptist soon after he passed through their region. 

     Mary Cleophas was a lovely, distinguished looking woman.  She spoke with Jesus one morning of her five sons and entreated Him to take them into His own service.  Of her five sons, one was a clerk, or a kind of magistrate, named Simon (Zelotes); and two were fishermen, James (known as James Alpheus) and Thaddeus (also known as Jude).  These three sons were from her first marriage with Alpheus.  Joses (Joseph) Barsabas, who was also a fisherman, was her son by her second husband, Sabas.  By her third marriage with the fisherman, Jonas, she had another son, the young Simeon Barjonas, who was still a boy.  Alpheus, her first husband, was a widower with one son when Mary Cleophas married him.  This step-son was named Levi.  She wept bitterly when she spoke of him, for he was a publican, a tax collector who worked for the despised pagan Romans.  Jesus consoled her, promising that all of her sons would one day follow Him.  Of Levi, whom He had already seen when on His way to Sidon, He spoke words of comfort, foretelling that he would one day be one of His best disciples.  (Levi was also called "Matthew" a name meaning "God's Gift").

     Levi was almost as old as Peter.  One might easily have taken him for the father of his step-brother Joses Barsabas.  He was a man of heavy, bony frame with black hair and beard.

     When Jesus left Jezrael, He journeyed awhile toward the east, then went around the mountain which lay between Jezrael and Nazareth and, about two hours from the former place, reached a number of houses standing in rows on either side of the high road.  They were occupied by publicans.  Some poor Jews dwelt under tents at a little distance from the road.

     The road along which the dwellings of the publicans stood, was fenced in by wickerwork, the entrance at either end being closed.  Rich publicans lived here who rented many toll booths in the country and again leased the same to sub-collectors.  Matthew was one of these lesser sub-gatherers, but he belonged to another area.  The commercial high road to Egypt from Syria, Arabia, and Sidon passed through this place.  Great bales of white silk in bundles like flax were brought along this way on camels and asses; also fine woollen stuffs both white and colored; great, heavy, woven strips of carpets; and also spices.  When the camels arrived in this district, the gates were closed and the merchants had to unpack their goods, which were carefully examined.  They had to pay a toll tax, partly in merchandise, and partly in money, in order to proceed down the highway.  The money was mostly in three or four cornered yellow, white, or reddish pieces, on which was stamped a figure, raised on one side and hollow on the other.  They also gave other coins different from these.  Some of the coins had little towers, or a virgin, or an infant in a little ship.

     The publicans were all leagued together.  When one received more than his fellows, he divided with the rest.  They were wealthy and lived well.  Their homes were surrounded by courtyards, gardens, and walls.  They lived entirely among themselves, because others would not associate with them.  They had their own school and teacher.

     Jesus and His followers were well received by them.  He stayed first with one, then with another publican, teaching in their school.  He especially pointed out to them the fact that they often extorted from travellers more toll than was just.  They became very much confused, and could not imagine how He knew that!  They were more humble than the other Jews, and received His words better.  Jesus urged them to receive baptism.

     Jesus left the publicans after having taught among them.  Many of them desired to make Him presents, but He would not accept anything.  Several followed Him because they wanted to go with Him to baptism.  He journeyed throught the country around Dothanin and passed the mad-house where, on His first journey from Nazareth, He had calmed the raving and the possessed.  As He was passing it, they called Him by name and clamored violently to be released.  Jesus commanded their custodians to free them, promising that He would answer for the consequences.  They were all set at liberty.  Jesus cured them all, and they followed Him.

     Many had heard of Jesus, but they were displeased at seeing Him followed by Publicans (whom they looked upon as malefactors), people known to be possessed, and a motley crowd of others.  He entered their school and taught of the baptism of John.  Then, addressing His followers, He exhorted them to think seriously, before attaching themselves to Him, whether they would be able to persevere or not, for they must not think His path was an easy one.

     Six men who were coming from the baptism of John met Jesus.  Among them was Matthew.  They all knew about Jesus, some through relationship, others by hearsay.  They strongly suspected, though they had no assurance of it, that He was the One of whom John had spoken.

     They talked about John, of Lazarus and his sisters, especially of Magdalen.  They supposed she had a devil for she was already living apart from her family in the castle of Magdalum.

     These men accompanied Jesus and were filled with astonishment at his discourse.  The aspirants going from Galilee to John used to tell him all they knew and heard of Jesus, while those people who came from Ainon where John baptized to Galilee used to tell Jesus all they knew about John.

    

     Jesus went alone to the sea, passing through a fence into an enclosed fishery where lay five boats.  On shore were several huts for the accommodation of the fishermen.  Peter, the owner of this fishery, was in one of the huts with Andrew.  John, James, their father Zebedee and several others including Peter's father-in-law, about thirty men in all, were on the boats.

     Jesus went along the shore by the fenced-off way between the huts and the boats, speaking with Andrew and others.  He spoke of John the Baptist and of the near coming of the Messiah.  Andrew was already a baptized disciple of John.  Jesus told them that He would come to see them again.

     Simon, James Alpheus, and Thaddeus, the sons of Mary Cleophas by her deceased husband, Alpheus, and Joses Barsabas, her son by her second marriage with Sabas, were baptized by John at Ainon.  Andrew and Philip also were baptized by him, after which they returned to their occupations.  The other Apostles and many of the disciples had already been baptized.

     One day many priests and doctors of the Law came to John the Baptist from the towns around Jerusalem intending to call him to account.  They questioned him as to who he was, who had sent him, what he taught, etc.  John answered with extraordinary boldness and energy, announcing to them the coming of the Messiah and charged them with impenitence and hypocrisy.

     Not long after this denouncement, a great many more people were sent from Nazareth, Jerusalem and Hebron by the Elders and Pharisees to question John again upon his mission.  They made his taking possession of the place chosen for baptism a subject for complaint.

     Many publicans had come to John.  He baptized some of them and spoke to them upon the state of their conscience.  Among them was the publican Matthew.  He was held in low esteem by his relatives.  Matthew was deeply touched by John's exhortations, and he amended his life, and humbly received baptism.  John refused baptism to many of these publicans.

     Jesus with about twenty followers landed near the settlement of the publicans.  The publicans who had already received John's baptism, entertained Jesus and His friends; but several of His followers, surprised at their Master's intimacy with these despised people, stood shyly aloof.  Jesus and His disciples spent the night here accepting hospitality from the publicans who were deferential to them.  Their houses stood on the side of the road that ran through the valley and not far from the Jordan.  Somewhat farther on was an inn for the accommodation of merchants and their camels.  There were many tarrying here at the time on account of the next day's feast, that of the Tabernacles, for although most of them were pagans, still they were obliged to observe the festivals as a day of rest.

     The publicans questioned Jesus as to how they should restore their unjustly acquired goods.  He told them that they should be taken to the Temple, which He meant only spiritually, for in reality He designated by that, His own Community.  It should, He said, be used to purchase a field near Jerusalem for the support of poor widows, illustrating this action by the parable of the sower.  He that received the seed upon good ground is he that hears the word and understands and bears fruit that yields one a hundred fold and another sixty and another thirty. (Matt 13:23)  The result of their charitable works would thus be increased.

     Jesus walked with them on the shore and in the country around teaching of the sower and the future harvest.  He took His text from the feast of Tabernacles which was just beginning, and which commemorated the vintage as well as the gathering of the fruits of the field.

     From the publican village, Jesus pressed on further through the valley.  On either side of the mountain slope for the distance of about half an hour were rows of houses in which the Feast of Tabernacles was being celebrated.  By their side were erected the booths formed of green branches of trees and adorned with bushes, festoons and clusters of grapes.  On one side of the road were the tabernacles and the little huts of the women, on the other side the huts in which animals were slaughtered.  The children, adorned with garlands, went in bands from one tabernacle to another, singing and playing music.  Their musical instruments consisted of triangles furnished with rings which they tinkled, triangles spanned by cords, and a wind instrument from which arose spiral tubes.

     Jesus passed there to teach.  Refreshments were offered Him and His disciples, grapes on sticks, two on each.  At the further end of the row of houses stood an inn which Jesus entered.  Not far from the inn was a broad open space in the middle of the road.  Here, surrounded by trees, arose the large and beautiful synagogue of Dibon.

     On the next day Jesus taught in the synagogue taking again the parable of the sower, mentioning baptism and the nearness of the Kingdom of God.  He spoke also of the feast of Tabernacles and of its celebration, here, taking the opportunity to rebuke the people for mixing up heathenish customs in their services, for some of the moabites still dwelt in this place, and with them the Jewish people had intimate relations.

     Jesus and His disciples travelled down the eastern shore of the lake.  They came to Hai about nine hours from the place of baptism.  In ancient times Hai had been destroyed and later restored.  It was a retired little place.  Jesus cured and taught there.

     Among the Pharisees of Hai were some that had been present in the Temple at the teaching of Jesus in His twelfth year (Luke 2:46-47).  They now referred to it as a piece of consummate hypocricy.  He had, they said, in the synagogue of learned men taken His place on the basis of scholars, disputed with them, and then, as if demanding information on the words of His opponents, had called upon the teachers with such questions as these, "What do you think?  Tell us, when will the Messiah come?"  Having thus drawn them into the manifestation of their opinion, He ended by a show of His superior knowledge.  They now asked Jesus the plain question as to whether He was not that Child.

     Jesus spent part of the night retired in prayer.  He supplicated for the conversion of sinners and asked His Heavenly Father to confound and frustrate the designs of the Pharisees, for He acted in everything as man in order that we should imitate Him.  He also begged His Father to allow Him to perfect His work since the Pharisees were ready to tear Him to pieces.  He withdrew from their presence, but on the following day, the Sabbath itself, He again cured at the door of the synagogue and taught inside.

     With eight disciples, Jesus set out before break of day on His journey to the place of baptism on the Jordan.  Their way ran to the east of the Sea of Galilee, and over the hill where they had seen the boats of the Apostles.  The Jordan here flows through a deep bed.  About one half-hour before its discharge into the lake, the river was spanned by a high and steep bridge.  This the Lord and His disciples crossed.  On the other side in a retired corner near the lake, lay a little fishery surrounded by numerous out-stretched nets.  It was called Little Corozain.  Not quite an hour northward from the lake was Bethsaida-Julias.  Great Corozain was a couple of hours east of the lake, and there lived Matthew the Publican.

     Mary interceded for the sick slave of the Centurion Cornelius who was, she said, a very good man.  As Jesus was going to the residence of the pagan officer, Cornelius, he met the two Jews whom Cornelius had sent.  They said Cornelius deserved the favor for he was a friend of the Jews, and had built them a synagogue.  When Jesus was within sight of his house, Cornelius came out, knelt down and declared himself unworthy to approach Him or to speak with him personally.  "Lord, I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof!  Speak but one word and my servant shall be healed.  Jesus turned to those standing around and said, "Truly I have not found such faith in Israel!  Know then!  Many shall come from the east and the west and shall take place with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in heaven; the Israelites shall be cast out into exterior darkness where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth!"  Then turning to Cornelius said, "Go, and as you believed so shall it be done!"  The Centurion Cornelius and his servant asked Jesus what they should do.  He answered that they and all their family should receive baptism (Matt 8:5-13 & Luke 7:2-10).

     Immediately after the cure, Cornelius the Centurion gave a feast at his house to celebrate the healing.  Numbers of heathens were in attendance, also crowds of the poor.  Cornelius informed Jesus of his intention to sacrifice burnt offerings of all kinds of animals.  But Jesus replied that it would be better for him to invite his enemies in order to reconcile them with one another, his friends that he might lead them to the truth, and the poor that he might recreate and entertain them with the food he had wanted to use for sacrifice, for God no longer delighted in burnt offerings.  Multitudes of heathens came from beyond Bethsaida and the mountains to the house of Cornelius where the feast was celebrated.

     Jesus was instructing them and, as the throng became very great, He, with some of His disciples, went on board His little bark, while the rest of them and the publicans went on Peter's boat.  From the bark He instructed the heathens on the shore, making use of the parables of the sower and the tares in the field (Mark 4:1-9).  The instruction over, they struck out across the lake, the disciples in Peter's boat handling the oars.  Jesus' bark was fastened to Peter's, and the disciples took turns rowing.  Jesus sat on a raised seat near the mast, the others sat around Him and on the edge of the boat.  They asked Him about the meaning of the parable and wanted to know why He spoke in similitudes.  Jesus gave them a satisfactory explanation (Mark 4:13-20).  They landed at a point between the valley of Gerasa and Bethsaida-Julias.  A road ran from the shore to the houses of the publicans, and into it the four who were with Jesus turned.

     Meanwhile Jesus with the disciples continued along the shore to the right, thus passing Matthew's residence, though at a distance.  A side path ran from this road to his custom-office, and along it Jesus bent His steps, the disciples timidly remaining behind.  Servants and publicans were out in front of the custom-house, busied with all kinds of merchandise.  When Matthew from the top of a little eminence beheld Jesus and the disciples coming toward the custom house, he became confused and withdrew into his private office.  But Jesus continued to approach, and from the opposite side of the road called him.  Then Matthew came hurrying out, prostrated with his face on the ground before Jesus, protesting that he did not esteem himself worthy that Jesus should speak with him.  But Jesus said, "Matthew, arise, and follow Me!" (Matt 9:9 & Luke 5:27-28).  Then he arose saying that he would instantly and joyfully abandon all things and follow Him.  He accompanied Jesus back to where the disciples were standing, who saluted him and extended to him their hands.  Thaddeus, Simon, and James Alpheus were particularly rejoiced at his coming.  They and Matthew were half-brothers.  Matthew insisted upon all of them being his guests.  Jesus however assured him that they would return next morning.  Then they continued their way.

     Matthew hurried back to his house, which stood in a corner of the mountains about a quarter of an hour from the Sea of Galilee.  The little stream that flows from Gerasa into the Sea ran past it at no great distance, and the view extended over Sea and field.  Matthew at once procured a substitute in his business, an excellent man belonging to Peter's bark, who was to discharge his duties until further arrangements could be made.

     Matthew was a married man with four children.  He joyfully imparted to his wife the good fortune that had fallen to him, as well as his intention to abandon all and follow Jesus, and she received the announcement with corresponding joy.  Then he directed her to see to the preparing of an banquet for the next morning, he himself taking charge of the invitations and other arrangements.  Since he had received John's baptism, he had regulated his whole life most conscientiously.

     On leaving Matthew, Jesus crossed the mountain at the rear of his house, and proceeded northward into the valley of Bethsaida-Julias, where He found encamped caravans and travelling pagans whom He instructed.

     Toward noon the next day Jesus returned with the disciples to Matthew's, where many publicans who had been invited were already assembled.  Some Pharisees and some of John's disciples had joined Jesus on the way, but they did not enter Matthew's.  The Pharisees stayed out doors sauntering around the garden with some disciples to whom they put the question, "How can you tolerate your Master's making Himself so familiar with sinners and publicans?" (Luke 5:30) They were told, "Ask Himself yourself why He does so!"  But the Pharisees responded, "One can not speak with a man who always maintains that he is right."

     Matthew received Jesus and His followers most lovingly and humbly, and washed their feet.  His half-brothers warmly embraced him.  Then he presented his wife and children to Jesus.  Jesus spoke to the mother and blessed the children, who then retired to return no more.  Jesus was seated and Matthew went down on his knees before Him.  Jesus laid His hand upon him, blessed him, and addressed to him some words of instruction.

     The feast was a magnificent one.  The table in the form of a cross was set in an open hall.  Jesus sat in the midst of the publicans.  In the intervals between the different courses, the guests arose and engaged in conversation with one another.  Poor travellers passing by were supplied with food by the disciples, for the street on which the house stood led down to the ferry.  It was on the occasion of their leaving table that the Pharisees approached the disciples, and then occurred the speeches and objections narrated in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 5:29-39)  The Pharisees persisted, particularly on the subject of fasting, because among the strict Jews a fast day began that evening in expiation of the sacrilege King Joachim committed by burning the Books of the Prophet Jeremias (Jer 36:20-26).  Among the Jews, especially in Judea, it was not customary to pluck fruit by the wayside.  Now Jesus permitted it to His disciples, and this the Pharisees made a subject of reproach to Him.  While giving His answers to the Pharisees, Jesus was reclining at table with the publicans, whereas the disciples to whom the questions of the Pharisees were addressed were standing or walking among them.  Jesus turned His head from side to side in answering (Mark 2:14-22 & Luke 5:29-39).

     Capharnaum was much more lively now than it had been.  Crowds of strangers were streaming in because of Jesus; some of them His friends, others His enemies, and most of them pagans, the followers of Zorobabel and Cornelius.

     Next morning when Jesus went to the Sea, which was about a quarter of an hour distant from Matthew's dwelling, Peter and Andrew were on the point of launching out on the deep to let down their nets.  Jesus called to them,"Come and follow Me!  I will make you fishers of men!"  They instantly abandoned their work, hauled in their boat, and came on shore.  Jesus went on a little farther up the shore to the ship of Zebedee, who with his sons James and John was mending his nets on the ship.  Jesus called the two sons to come to Him.  They obeyed immediately and came to land, while Zebedee remained on the ship with his servants. (Matt 4:18-22 & Mark 1:16-20)

     Peter, Andrew, James and John went to the pagan encampment, and there Andrew baptized.  That evening when all were again assembled at Matthew's, the crowd was very great and pressed around Jesus.  Because of the crowd, He went on board Peter's bark with the twelve Apostles and Saturnin, and commanded them to row toward Tiberias, which was on the opposite side of the lake at its greatest breadth.  Jesus wanted to escape from the crowd that pressed upon Him, for He was worn out with fatigue.

     Three platforms surrounded the lower part of the mast, like steps one above the other.  In the middle one, in one of the apartments used by the sentry, Jesus lay down and fell asleep, for He was very tired.  The rowers were above Him.  From Jesus' resting place, although protected by a roof, there was an unobstructed view over the whole lake.  When the party put out from shore, the weather was calm and beautiful, but they had scarcely reached the middle of the lake before a violent tempest arose.  Although the sky was shrouded in darkness, the stars were to be seen.  The wind blew in a hurricane and the waves dashed over the boat, the sails of which had been furled.  From time to time a brilliant flash of lightning glanced over the troubled waters.  The danger was imminent, and the disciples were in great anxiety when they awoke Jesus with the words, "Master! have You no care for us?  We are sinking!"  Jesus arose, looked out on the water and said quietly and earnestly, as if speaking to the storm, "Peace!  Be still!" and instantly all became calm.  The disciples were struck with fear.  They whispered to one another, "Who is this Man that can control the waves?"  Jesus reproved them for their little faith and their fear.  He ordered them to row back to Corozain, the place of Matthew's custom-house (Mark 4:35-41).

     That afternoon He and all His Apostles rowed over to Bethsaida.  Matthew had delivered the custom-house to a man belonging to the fishery.  Since his reception of John's baptism, he had carried on his business in an altogether blameless manner.  Some other publicans also were honest in their dealings.  They very liberally gave large alms to the poor.

     Jairus, Chief of the synagogue at Capharnaum, cast himself at Jesus' feet and implored Him to cure his sick daughter.  Jesus, taking Peter, James Zebedee and John entered Jairus' home.  Jesus breathed upon her, grasped one of her wrists and said, "Damsel arise!"  Jesus held her hand as she stood up, opened her eyes and stepped from her couch to the floor.

     On the way back Jesus told the Apostles that her parents had neither real faith nor an upright intention.  If she had been cured she would have been restored to her father, but if not he would have prepared a triumph for the Pharisees.  If the daughter was raised from the dead, it was for her own sake and for the glory of God's Kingdom.  The death from which she had been roused, that is the death of the body, was a guiltless one, but from the death of the soul she must now preserve herself.

     Jairus' daughter was again near death.  It had fallen upon her in punishment for her own and her parents' sins.  The girl's mother, aunt and grandmother who all lived in the same house, had taken Jesus' miraculous healing in a frivolous way without gratitude and without altering their life.  Their life was full of vanity.  All the latest pagan styles of finery were used for their adornment.  They had laughed at Jesus and turned Him into ridicule.  Too ashamed to ask Jesus again for help, Jairus threw himself at Jesus' feet and begged Him to again have pity on his daughter.

     Jesus with rapid steps accompanied Jairus to his house.  Peter, James, John, Saturnin, and Matthew were with Him.  In the forecourt were again gathered the mourners and weepers, but this time they uttered no word of mockery, nor did Jesus say as He did before, "She is only sleeping," but passed on straight through the crowd.  Jairus' mother, his wife, and her sister came timidly forth to meet Him.  They were veiled and in tears, their robes were the garments of mourning.  Jesus left Saturnin and Matthew with the people in the forecourt, while accompanied by Peter, James, John, the father, the mother, and the grandmother, He entered the room in which the dead girl lay.  With a branch Jesus sprinkled her with blessed water, prayed, took her by the hand and said, "Little maid, I say to thee, arise!"  She suddenly opened her eyes, obeyed the touch of Jesus' hand, arose and stepped from her couch.  Jesus led her to her parents who, receiving her with hot tears and choking tears, sank at Jesus' feet.  He ordered them to give her something to eat, some bread and grapes (Mark 5:22-24,35-43 & Luke 8:41-42,49-56).

     Much later Jesus again visited Jairus' family accompanied by some of His disciples.  They were very humble and entirely changed.  They had divided their wealth in three parts, one for the poor, one for the Community and one for themselves.  The daughter did not make her appearance until called and then came forward veiled, her whole department showing humility.  She held herself erect, had grown taller and was in perfect health.

     When Jesus went to the synagogue to teach, the Pharisees laid a snare for Him.  In a corner of the synagogue was a poor creature with a withered hand.  He had not ventured to appear before Jesus. He now held back, intimidated by the presence of the Pharisees who were reproaching Jesus, asking Him how He could make His appearance with a publican like Matthew.  To this Jesus responded that He had come to console and convert sinners, but that no Pharisee should ever be numbered among His disciples.  The Pharisees mockingly retorted, "Master, here is one for whom Thou hast come.  Perhaps, you will heal him also," and pushed forward the man with the withered hand.  Thereupon Jesus commanded the man to come forward and stand in the midst of the assembly.  He did so, and Jesus said to him, "Your sins are forgiven you!"  The Pharisees, who scorned the poor man whose reputation was not of the best, cried out, "His withered hand has never hindered him from sinning."  The Pharisees believed that sin was indissolubly linked together with sickness and misfortune, and that the man could not be healed unless he was forgiven, and only God could forgive his sin.  Then Jesus grasped the hand, straightened the fingers, and said, "Use your hand!"  The man stretched out his hand, found it cured, and went away giving thanks.  Jesus justified him against the calumnies of the Pharisees, expressed compassion for him, and declared him a good-hearted fellow.  The Pharisees were covered with confusion and filled with wrath.  They declared Jesus a Sabbath-breaker against whom they would lodge an accusation, and then took their departure.  In the neighborhood of the synagogue they met some Herodians with whom they consulted as to how they should lie in wait for Jesus on the next feast in Jerusalem (Matt 12:10-14 & Mark 3:1-6 & Luke 6:6-11).

     Leaving Cariathaim Jesus put up at an inn in the city of Abram in the tribe of Aser.  The host addressed Jesus, "Lord, we will not let You go until You decide our quarrel."  In the dispute were the wells in the vicinity used for watering cattle.  The two tribes were near each other and their pasturage was extensive.  Jesus' decision was that from each side they set free an equal number of cattle, and from whichever side the greater number of cattle went of their own accord, that side should have the greater right to the said well.  Jesus used this circumstance for subject matter for a profoundly signification on the living water that He Himself would give them, and which would belong to those that most earnestly desired it (John 7:37-39).

     The Apostles and disciples whom Jesus had left near Cariathaim to teach, came to the inn, as did also Andrew and Matthew.  Thomas and James Alpheus went in their place to Achzib in the tribe of Aser, between ten and twelve hours westward.  Twenty men had come back with Andrew, some were strangers, and some had been cured and wanted to hear Jesus' instructions.  The two Apostles reported how things had gone with them, how all had prospered with them, namely, their healing, exorcising, preaching, and baptizing.

     Jesus taught and healed the whole morning, and had also settled another dispute concerning the wells.  As the confines of Aser, Nephtali, and Zabulon here met, and the people carried on extensive cattle raising, there arose frequent discussions on the subject of the wells.  One man complained that another made use of the well that his ancestors had dug.  He submitted the case to Jesus, saying that He would abide by His decision, though he did not wish to sacrifice lightly the rights of his children.  Jesus decided that he should bore for a well in another field, which He pointed out to him.  There he would find better and more abundant water.  Between twenty and thirty Jews were baptized, among them those that had come there with Andrew and Matthew.  As there was in that place no brook in which they could stand, the neophytes knelt in a circle, and were baptized out of a basin with the hand.  After that Jesus went into the city.

     Those whom Jesus cured in the city, were for the most part affected with maladies similar to those already described.  Their sufferings must have had some connection with the elevated situation of the city and the occupations in which they were engaged.  Jesus took much notice of the children, who were standing in rows on the street corners and public squares, waiting for Him.  He questioned them, instructed them, and gave them His blessing.  The mothers brought their sick little ones to Him, and He healed them.  Numbers of people from the country around had here assembled.

     Jesus again visited those Essenians with whom He had been the last time He was in Nazareth.  He and the disciples took with them a light meal, after which He taught during a part of the night.  Toward ten o'clock, Peter, Matthew, and James Zebedee returned from the Apostles in Upper Galilee.  They had left the rest in the region around Seleucia to the east of Lake Merom.  Andrew, Thomas, and Saturnin, who had lately arrived, and another Apostle immediately started to replace those who had just come.  Jesus left Nazareth that night with His followers.

     As Jesus with the Apostles and disciples was making the journey from Capharnaum to Cana and Cydessa, He lingered in the region of Giskala.  There He placed The Twelve in three separate rows, and revealed to each his own peculiar disposition and character.  Peter, Andrew, John, James Zebedee and Matthew stood in the first row; Thaddeus, Bartholomew, James Alpheus and the disciple Barsabas in the second, Thomas, Simon, Philip, and Judas Iscariot in the third.  Each heard his own thoughts and hopes revealed to him by Jesus, and all were strongly affected.  Jesus delivered at the same time a lengthy discourse upon the hardships and sufferings that awaited them, and on this occasion He again made use of the expression, "Among you there is a devil."

     The three different rows established no subordination among the Apostles, one to another.  The Twelve were classed merely according to their disposition and character.  Joses Barsabas had stood foremost in the row of the disciples, and nearest to The Twelve, consequently, Jesus placed him also in the second row with the Apostles, and revealed to him his hopes and fears.  On this journey Jesus further instructed The Twelve and the disciples exactly how to proceed in the future when healing the sick and exorcising the possessed, as He Himself did in such cases.  He imparted to them the power and the courage always to effect, by imposition of hands and anointing with oil, what He Himself could do.  This communication of power took place without the imposition of hands, though not without a substantial transmission.  They stood around Jesus and rays darted toward them, rays in differentiating colors according to the nature of the gifts received and the peculiar disposition of each recipient.  They exclaimed, "Lord, we feel ourselves endued with strength!  Your words are truth and life!"  And now each knew just what he had to do in every case in order to effect a cure.  There was no need for either hesitation or reflection.

     On the way to the mountain those Apostles and disciples that had last returned from their several missions, gave their Master a full account of all that had happened to them, all that they had seen and heard and done.  He listened to everything and exhorted them to pray and hold themselves in readiness for what He was going to communicate to them.  Then Jesus retired to pray.

     Before daybreak, they again gathered about Jesus.  The Twelve stood around Him in a circle.  The disciples stood outside the circle, the oldest of them nearest.  Then Jesus, as if resuming the discourse of the preceding night, asked, "Who do men say that I am?"  The Apostles and the oldest of the disciples repeated the various conjectures of the people concerning Him, as they had heard here and there in different places.  Some said He was the Baptist, others, Elias, while others again took Him for Jeremias, who had risen from the dead.  They related all that had become known to them on this subject, and then remained in expectation of Jesus' reply.  There was a short pause.  Jesus was very grave, and they fixed their eyes upon His countenance with some impatience.  At last He said, "And you, for whom do you take Me?"  No one felt impelled to answer.  Only Peter, full of faith and zeal, taking one step forward into the circle, with hand raised like one solemnly affirming, exclaimed loud and boldly, as if he were the voice and tongue of all, "You are Christ, the Son of the living God!"  Jesus replied with great earnestness, His voice strong and animated, "Blessed are you, Simon, son of John, because flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven!  And I say to you, you are a rock, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.  And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven, and whatever you shall bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven, and whatever you shall loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven!" (Matt 16:13-19).  Jesus made this response in a manner both solemn and prophetic.  Peter, in the same spirit in which he had confessed to the Godhead, received Jesus' words in their full signification, but the other Apostles appeared troubled.  They did not quite understand the meaning of this revelation.  Their minds still clung to the idea of an earthly political Messiah, and thought that perhaps Jesus meant to make Peter the high priest of His earthly church.

     At the closing Sabbath exercises that evening, Jesus again taught in the synagogue.  He spoke of the murmuring which the Israelites did when the scouts, sent to view the Promised Land, brought to them the news of its fortifications (Num 13:1-2,21-25).  He spoke of the curse that fell upon them, in consequence of which they perished in the wilderness, and only their children were permitted to see the Land of Promise (Num 14:20-23).  He laid special stress upon malediction and benediction, of which He spoke in very energetic terms.  Then He went on to speak of those that falsify the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God, of those that would never enter into it, of the non-recognition of the Messiah, and of the chastisement that menaced Jerusalem and the whole country.  Then two of the Pharisees, mounting the teacher's stand, began to comment upon some passages in the day's Lesson, in which it was recorded that God had commanded Moses in the wilderness to cause a certain man to be stoned by all the people for having gathered sticks on the Sabbath day (Numbers 15:32-36).  This fact the Pharisees cited as an argument against the cures wrought on the Sabbath.  Jesus responded by asking whether the health of the poor and needy was like wood destined for the fire, or whether hypocrisy, lifeless and inflexible, was not much more in the likeness of the nature of wood; and if the looking for scandal in the healing of the poor, and the uncharitable faultfinding of those that had beams in their own eyes, was not more like a gathering of sticks; not however to prepare food for themselves, but to cast them as stumbling blocks in the path of truth, to use them as fuel for distilling the poison of discord and persecution.  He asked, "Is it not permitted to receive on the Sabbath that for which we pray on the Sabbath, and also to give it to others on that same day if we have it?"  Then Jesus explained the passage in the Law that referred to manual labor (Deut 5:12-14).  He said that it was prohibited on the Sabbath only to leave man free for the performance of spiritual exercises.  How could the Sabbath prevent the cure of the sick, since such cures sanctified the Sabbath?  In this way Jesus refuted the Pharisees and so confounded them that they had nothing more to say.  Some few of His hearers were moved by His words.  They reflected in silence upon what they had heard, while others put their heads together, saying, "Yes!  It is He!  He is the Messiah!  No mere man, no Prophet could teach in that way!"  Significant looks were exchanged throughout the crowd generally, for many people rejoiced over the Pharisees' humiliation.  However some, obdurate at heart, joined with the Pharisees in taking scandal.

     About fifteen of the disciples had assembled in Capharnaum.  Jesus took them with Him to the mountain near Bethsaida, where He had taught about the eating of His Flesh and the drinking of His Blood (John 6:24-27).  On this occasion, His instruction turned upon their own mission and labors, and the fruit they were to bring forth.  The holy women were present.  In this instruction Jesus related the parable of the workmen in the vineyard (Matt 20:1-16).  He praised and encouraged the disciples and blessed them in a body, His hands outstretched above their heads, and they were again filled with strength and courage.

     On the evening of that day, Peter, James Zebedee and Matthew, together with some of the older disciples of John went to greet Jesus at His Mother's.

     From Bethsaida-Julias, Jesus took a northeasterly direction toward the mountain upon which the multiplication of the loaves had taken place.  There He found assembled all the Apostles and disciples with many people from Capharnaum, Caesarea-Philippi, and other places.  He taught upon the Eighth Beatitude, "Blessed are you when men hate and persecute you for the Son of Man's sake," also upon the passage  "Woe to the rich, to them that are filled with the goods of this world, for in them they already have their reward; but as for you, rejoice that it is still in store for you."  He spoke likewise of the salt of the earth, of the city on the mountain, of the light on the candlestick, of the fulfilling of the Law, of the hiding of good works, of prayer made in the privacy of one's chamber, and of fasting.  Of the last mentioned, Jesus said that it should be practiced joyously with anointing of the head, and not be turned into a sanctimonious parade of piety.  He went on to the laying up of treasure in heaven, freedom from worldly solicitude, the impossibility of a man's serving two masters, the narrow gate, the broad road, the bad tree with its bad fruit, the wise man that built on a solid foundation, and the fool that built upon sand.  This discourse lasted over three hours (Matt 5:1-16).  During it the audience went down once to the foot of the mountain to get something to eat.  Jesus continued His instruction to the Apostles and disciples, warning them about all those points on which He had already spoken when sending them out upon former missions.  He animated them to believe, to have confidence, and to persevere.

     On the next day, the number of His hearers having increased to several thousands, Jesus taught again on the mountain.  Because of the caravans that traveled these parts, there were people present from all sections of the country, also many sick and possessed.  The Pharisees in attendance had not come to dispute, although they received some rather severe thrusts during the discourse.  Jesus' miracles were too manifest and the people too enthusiastic over Him to allow them a word.  The people had food with them, and they seated themselves on the ground to partake of it.

     Among the cured, was a blind man from Jericho, who had also been lame.  One of the disciples, a cousin of Manahem, had cured him of lameness, but had not been able to restore his sight.  The disciple led him to Jesus, who restored the man's sight.

     During these last days Jesus had instructed new disciples.  With admirable patience He had taught them like children by the question and answer method.  He then sent them out, two by two, with the words, "I send you like sheep among wolves."

     One of Joseph of Arimathea's nephews arrived from Jerusalem with the news that Lazarus was sick.  However Jesus made no immediate effort to leave for Bethania. (John 11:1-6)  He kept with Himself only the Apostles, Peter, James, John, Matthew, and some of the disciples, with whom He went to Matthew's custom office and thence by sea to Dalmanutha.  Afterward He went to the city of Edrai where He taught on the Sabbath, then in the Levitical city of Bosra, and finally in Nobah.

     Early in the morning Jesus went with the Apostles to the tomb of Lazarus.  Lazarus' sisters and others were there.  A crowd of people was constantly on the increase.  Jesus commanded the Apostles to raise the stone from the grave.  Martha exclaimed, "Lord by this time he stinks, for he is now of four days."  The lightly woven cover was taken from the coffin, and disclosed the corpse lying in its winding sheet.  At that instant Jesus raised His eyes to heaven, prayed aloud, and called out in a strong voice, "Lazarus, come forth!"  At this cry the corpse arose to a sitting posture.  The Apostles who were standing in the tomb by the coffin, removed the handkerchief from Lazarus' face, unbound his hands and feet, and drew off the winding sheet.  Lazarus, as if awakening from lethargy, rose from the coffin and stepped out of the grave, tottering and looking like a phantom.  The Apostles threw a mantle around him.  Like one walking in sleep, he approached the door, passed the Lord and went out to where his sisters and the other women had stepped back in fright as before a ghost.  Without daring to touch him, they fell prostrate on the ground.  At the same instant, Jesus stepped after him out of the vault and seized him by both hands.  His whole manner full of loving earnestness. (John 11:38-44)

     Before daybreak Jesus accompanied by John and Matthew, who had girded up their garments somewhat differently from their usual custom, started from Bethania for Jerusalem.  They went around the city and, taking by-roads, reached the house in which later on the Last Supper was celebrated.  There they remained quietly the whole day and the next night, Jesus instructing and confirming His friends of the city.  Mary Marcus and Veronica were in the house, and at least a dozen men.  Nicodemus, to whom the house belonged but who had gladly resigned it for the use of Jesus' friends, was not there.  He had on that very day gone to Bethania to see Lazarus.

     Some Pharisees and High Priests gathered together to discuss Jesus and Lazarus.  Among other things they said that they feared Jesus would raise all the dead, and then what confusion would ensue!

     At noon on that day, a great tumult arose in Bethania.  If Jesus had been there, they would have stoned Him,  Lazarus was obliged to hide.  The Apostles slipped away in different directions.  All the other friends of Jesus in Bethania were likewise forced to lie in concealment.  Minds became calm however when people took into consideration that they had no right to take action against Lazarus (John 11:45-53).

     Jesus passed the whole night till early next morning in the house on Mount Zion.  Before daybreak He left Jerusalem with Matthew and John, and fled across the Jordan, not by the route He had formerly taken on the side of Bethabara, but by another off to the northeast.  It may have been toward noon when He reached the opposite shore of the Jordan.  That evening the Apostles from Bethania joined Him and they spent the night under a great tree.

     In the morning they started for a little village in the neighborhood, and on their way found a blind man lying on the roadside.  He was in charge of two boys who were not however related to him.  He was a shepherd from the region of Jericho.  He had heard from the Apostles that the Lord was coming that way, and he was now crying out to Him for a cure.  Jesus laid His hand on his head, and the man received his sight.  Then he cast off his rags and, in his under garment, followed Jesus to the village, where in a hall Jesus taught about the calling to follow Him.  He said that they who wanted to do so must, as the blind man did his rags, leave all to follow Him with full use of their sight.  A mantle was given to the man cured of blindness.  He wanted to join Jesus at once, but he was put off till he should prove his constancy.  Jesus taught here until nearly evening.  There were about eight disciples with Him.

     Jesus told His apostles and disciples that He was now about to take a an extraordinary journey.  He told them that they should separate from Him.  He instructed them where they should and where they should not teach during His absence, and where they should again join Him.  He would spend the next Sabbath in Great Corozain, then go to Bethsaida, and from there to the south into the region of Machaerus and Madian.  Then He would proceed to where Agar had exposed Ismael and where Jacob had set up the stone at Bersabee. (Gen 21:1-4 & 26:23-25)  Then He would journey to the east around the Dead Sea and on to the place upon which Melchizedek had offered sacrifice before Abraham (Gen 14:18-20).  Jesus declared His intention of going likewise to Heliopolis in Egypt where He had once dwelt in childhood.  There were some good people there, who as children had played with Him, and who had not entirely forgotten Him.  They were constantly asking what had become of Him, but they could not believe that He, about whom they heard so much, was the Child of their remembrance.  He would, He said, return from the other side through Hebron and the valley of Josaphat, pass the place at which He had been baptized by John, and through the desert in which He had been tempted.  He announced that His followers would be sure to find Him at the end of that time at Jacob's well near Sichar, though they might meet Him before when He would be returning through Judea (John 4:5-6).  He gave them detailed instructions in a long discourse, above all as to how they should conduct themselves in their missionary duties during His absence.  He told them that wherever they were not well received, they should shake the dust from their shoes (Matt:10:5-14).

     When Jesus left, Matthew returned home for awhile.  He was a married man.  His wife was a very virtuous person and since Matthew's vocation, they had lived in perfect continence.  Jesus instructed him to teach in his own home, and quietly put up with the contempt of his former associates.

     Matthew was not the only Apostle who gave up a normal married life when he left to follow Jesus (Matt 10:1-4,34-39).  This does not mean that they left their families without support to struggle as best they could.  Instead the dependents became a part of "The Community," caring for others and helping Jesus' Mother Mary in her charitable work and receiving their necessities from The Community.

     In a discourse in the Temple Jesus taught upon union and separation.  He spoke of the mingling of water and milk, naming it an intimate commingling that no one could separate.  Jesus wished under this figure to designate His own union with His followers, which could not separated once His Apostles accepted it.  He dwelt upon the mild and nutritive properties of milk.  As the disciples questioned Him upon the reunion after death of friends and married people, Jesus said there was a twofold union in Marriage: (1) the union of flesh and blood which death cuts asunder and which they that were so bound would not find themselves together after death; and (2) the union of the soul which would outlive death.  They should not, He continued, be disturbed as to whether they would be alone or together in the other world.  They that had been united in union of soul in this life would form but one body in the next.  He spoke also of the Bridgroom and named the Church His affianced.

     When Jesus left to go to the Temple He was accompanied by six of His Apostles who walked behind Him.  Upon entering the hall, He himself put the seats out of the way and arranged them in order to the great astonishment of the disciples.  In His instruction He gave as His reason for doing so that He was now soon to leave them.  He told the Apostles and disciples, though in general terms, much of what would happen to them in the future.   He forbade them to heap up perishable treasures and He railed against avarice.  He spoke of mortification, of praer, of fasting and of hypogcrisy which influences many in these holy practices.  He spoke of His recent absence from them and praised the conduct of the disciples during it.  Jesus spoke with emotion.  He touched upon the near fulfillment of His mission, His Passion,m and the speedy approach of His own end, before which He would make a solemn entrance into Jerusalem.  He alluded to the merciless treatment He would undergo, but added that He must suffer, and suffer exceedingly, in order to satisfy Divine Justice (Matt 20:17-19 & John 16:1-4).  He spoke of His Blessed Mother, recounting that she too was to suffer with Him.  He exposed the deep corruption and guilt of mankind, and explained that without His Passion no man could be justified.

     The Jews stormed and jeered when Jesus spoke of His sufferings and their power to satisfy for sin, and some of them left the hall to report to the mob whom they had appointed to spy on Him.  But Jesus addressed His followers telling them not to be troubled, that His time was not yet come, and that this too was a part of His Passion.  He made some mention of His secret disciples, the sons of Simeon and others, and said their caution was necessary because they had a different vocation.  As some people from Nazareth ahd come to the Temple out of curiosity to hear Him, He said in a way for them to understand that they were not in earnest.

     When the Apostles and disciples alone were standing around Jesus, He touched upon many things that would take place after His return to the Father.  He predicted the persecutions that would arise against Lazarus and the holy women.  He told the Apostles where they should retire during that period: Peter, John and James Alpheus should remain in Jerusalem; Zacheus was to go to the region of Galaad; Philip and Bartholomew to Gessur on the border of Syria; James Zebedee and a disciple were to go to the pagan regions north of Capharnaum; Thomas and Matthew were to go to Ephesus in order to evangelize the country where at a future time Jesus' Mother and many of those who believed in Him were to dwell.  They wondered greatly that Mary would go there to live.  Thaddeus and Simon were to go first to Samaria, though none cared to go there.  All preferred cities entirely pagan. 

     Full of trouble, Jesus went back with the Apostles to Bethania for the Sabbath.  While He was teaching in the Temple, the Jews had been ordered to keep their houses closed, and it was forbidden to offer Him or His disciples any refreshment.  On reaching Bethania, they went to the public house of Simon the healed leper, where a meal awaited them.  Magdalen, filled with compassion for Jesus' fatiguing exertions, met the Lord at the door.  She was dressed in a penitential robe and girdle, her flowing hair concealed by a black veil.  She cast herself at His feet and with her hair wiped from them the dust, just as one would clean the shoes of another.  She did it openly before all, and many were scandalized at her conduct.

     After Jesus and the disciples had prepared themselves for the Sabbath, that is, put on the garments prescribed and prayed under the lamp, they stretched themselves at table for the meal.  Toward the end of it, Magdalen, urged by love, gratitude, contrition, and anxiety, again made her appearance.  She went behind the Lord's couch, broke a little flask of precious balm over His head and that so plentifully that it ran down upon His garments.  Then with her hand she spread some of the ointment from the crown down the back of His head.  The room was filled with the delicious odor.  Magdalen loosened His sandals and anointed Jesus' feet on the soles and upon the upper part.  Then with both hands, drawing her flowing hair from beneath her veil, she wiped the Lord's anointed feet with her hair and replaced the sandals.

     The Apostles whispered together, even Peter was vexed at the interruption.  Magdalen, weeping and veiled, withdrew around behind the table.  As she was about to pass Judas, he stretched out his hand to stop her while he indignantly addressed to her some words on her extravagance, saying that the money spent on the ointment should have been given to the poor.  Magdalen made no reply.  She was weeping bitterly.  Then Jesus spoke, telling them to let her pass.  She then left the dining hall.  Several of those present were scandalized, especially Judas, who aroused the disapproval of Matthew, Thomas, and John Mark.  Unlike Judas they were genuinely concerned about the poor and needy.  Jesus excused her, on account of the love she bore Him.  The rest of the meal was disturbed by the displeasure of the Apostles and the reproaches of Jesus. (Matt 26:6-13 & Mark 14:3-8)  Magdalen often anointed Him in this way.  Many of the facts, mentioned only once in the Gospels, happened frequently.

     The meal was followed by prayer, after which the Apostles and disciples separated.  Judas full of disquietude caused by the humiliation at Jesus' rebuke, and disappointment in the way things were going, hurried back to Jerusalem that night (Mark 14:10-11).

     Jesus had sent Peter and John to prepare the Supper Room for the Paschal Supper.  With most of the Apostles, including Matthew, He was in the Valley of Josaphat when Peter and John came to summon them.

     Jesus instructed the Apostles about the Paschal lamb and the fulfillment of what it symbolized.  When Judas arrived they began to prepare the tables.  Then they put on traveling clothes.  Each took a staff in hand, walked in pairs to the table and stood in his place with his arms raised and the staff resting upon one arm.  Jesus stood in the center of the table.  All chanted "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel."  The table was narrow and only high enough to reach about one half foot above the knee.  In shape it was like a horse shoe.  Opposite Jesus in the inner part of the half circle there was a space left free for the serving of dishes.  On Jesus' right was John, then James Zebedee and James Alpheus, then Bartholomew, around the corner of the table were Thomas and Judas Iscariot.  On Jesus' left were Peter, then Andrew and Thaddeus, and Simon, around the corner were Matthew and Philip.

     In the center of the table lay the Paschal lamb on a dish, its head resting on the crossed forefeet, the hind feet stretched out full length.  Around the edge were little bunches of garlic.  There was another plate with little bunches of bitter herbs.  Directly in front of Jesus' place stood a bowl of brownish sauce in which to dip the herbs.

     While the Apostles were eating the herbs, Jesus continued to converse with them very lovingly.

     They arose from the table.  Jesus ordered some water to be brought to Him in the anteroom.  Standing in the midst of the Apostles He spoke to them long and solemnly.  He spoke of His Kingdom, of His going to His Father, and He told them that He would, before leaving them, give over to them all He possessed.  He gave instructions upon penance, the knowledge and confession of sin, contrition and justification.  All except Judas acknowledged their sins with sorrow.  Among other things Jesus said that He Himself was their servant.  They sat on the backs of their seats which were arranged in a half circle and rested their naked feet upon the seat itself.  Jesus went from one to another scooping up water with His hand over the feet presented to Him.  Then taking in both hands the long end of the towel with which He was girded, He passed it over the feet to dry them, and then moved on to the next one.  At this humble washing of His Apostles' feet He was full of love.  He did not perform it as if it were a mere ceremony, but like a sacred act of love springing straight from the heart.  He wanted to give expression to the love that burned within (John 13:1-5,12-15).

     The breaking and distributing of bread and drinking out of the same cup was customary in the earlier days at feasts of welcome and farewell.  They were used as signs of brotherly love and friendship.  Jesus elevated this custom to the dignity of the Most Holy sacrament, for until then it was only a conventional act performed formally with no deep significance.  One of the charges brought before Caiphas on the occasion of Judas' treason was that Jesus had introduced something new into the Paschal ceremonies, but Nicodemus proved from Scripture that this was an ancient practice at farewell feasts.

     Jesus took the white linen hanging over the chalice and laid it down.  Next He laid the loaves before Him.  He blessed the Passover loaves, elevated them with both hands, raised His eyes toward heaven, prayed, offered, set it down on the table and again covered it.  Then taking the chalice He received into it wine poured by Peter and water poured by John.  He blessed the chalice, raised it on high, praying and offering, and set it down again.

     After that Jesus held His hands over the plate on which the bread had lain, while at His bidding Peter and John poured water on them.  Then with a spoon He scooped up some of the water that had flowed over His hands and poured it on theirs.  Lastly the same plate was passed around and all the Apostles washed their hands in it.

     During all this time Jesus was becoming more and more recollected.  He told the Apostles that He was now about to give them all He possessed, even His very Self.  He seemed to be pouring out His whole Being in love, and He became perfectly transparent.  He looked like a luminous apparition.  In profound recollection and prayer.  He broke the bread in several morsels and laid them one over another on the plate.  With the tip of His finger He broke off a scrap from the first morsel and let it fall into the chalice.

     Again Jesus prayed and taught.  He took the plate with the morsels of bread and said, "Take and eat.  This is My Body which is given for you."  While saying these words He stretched forth His right hand over it, as if giving a blessing, and as He did so a brilliant light emanated from Him.  His words were luminous as also the bread, which as a body of light entered the mouth of the Apostles.  It was as if Jesus Himself flowed into them.  All of them were penetrated with light, bathed in light.

     Jesus next raised the chalice by its two handles to a level of His face, and pronounced into it the words of consecration.  While doing so He was wholly transfigured and as it were transparent.  He was as if passing into what He was giving.  He caused Peter and John to drink from the chalice while It was yet in His hands.  Then He set It down.  With a little spoon John removed some of the Sacred Blood from the chalice to the small cups which Peter handed to the other Apostles who, two by two, drank from the same cup (Matt 26:26-29 & Mark 14:22-25 & Luke 22:14-20).

     Jesus' movements during the institution of the Most Blessed Sacrament were measured and solemn, preceded and followed by explanations and instructions, the Apostles noting down some things in the little parchment rolls that they carried about them.  Jesus' turning to the right and left was full of gravity, as He always was when engaged in prayer.

     When Jesus left the house of the Last Supper with the Eleven, His soul was already troubled and His sadness on the increase.  As they walked through the Valley of Josephat, Jesus said that He would one day return there, though not poor and powerless as He was then, to judge the world.  Then men would tremble with fear and cry out, "You mountains, cover us!" (Hos 10:8 & Luke 23:29-31).  The disciples did not understand Him.  They thought He was wandering in His speech.

     They crossed the brook Cedron.  About nine o'clock they reached Gethsemani.  Jesus was very sad.  He announced to the Apostles the approach of danger and they became uneasy.  Jesus bade eight of them to remain in the Garden of Gethsemani where there was a kind of summer house built of branches and foliage.  "Remain here while I go to My own place to pray," He said.  He took Peter, John and James Zebedee with Him, crossed the road between Gethsemani and the Garden of Olives, and left them (Matt 26:36-37 & Mark 14:32-33 & Luke 22:39-41).

     The eight Apostles left in the Garden of Gethsemani heard the commotion of the soldiers as they came to arrest Jesus.  They came to find out what was going on.  When the soldiers spied the eight, they called up four of the archers to assist them.  The disciples were drawn by both anxiety and curiosity.  They straggled around in the distance, furtively on the lookout to discover what they could.  All night and day they hid, changed their hiding place frequently, were startled by any unexpected noise or movement.  Some ventured closer to the city trying to get information, receiving snatches of information and rumors.

     Joseph of Arimathea received Pilot's permission to receive the Lord's body (Matt 27:57-60).  As it was being carried in procession to the tomb, James Zebedee watched from a hill.  He went off to tell the other Apostles and disciples who were hiding in the caves.  During the burial several of His followers were lurking around in the neighborhood of the Garden and of Mount Calvary.  They looked timid and sorrowful, and had ventured as near as their fear allowed.

     That evening Peter, James Zebedee and James Alpheus met with Joseph and Nicodemus in the city.  All wept.  They agreed that the door of the Last Supper house should be opened to Jesus' friends upon their knocking.  They then separated in order to seek the other Apostles and disciples who were scattered in various directions.

     The men celebrated the Sabbath in the house of the Last Supper.  They prayed under a hanging lamp and then separated after a light meal.  While some left to go to their own homes, many took their rest in apartments adjoining the Cenacle.  On the first day of the week Magdalen came running, pounded on the door, and exclaimed, "They have taken the Lord from the tomb!  We don't know where!" and ran back to the garden of the sepulchre.  Peter and John followed her (John 20:1-10).

     In the Cenacle, the entrance hall outside that of the Last Supper, Nicodemus arranged a meal for the Apostles, the holy women and the disciples.  Thomas was not present.  A table was prepared in the entrance hall.

     When the tables were moved aside, the holy women retired to an apartment.  The disciples ranged on either side while the Apostles walked up and down teaching.  They walked around among one another extending hands joyously declaring that they would have all things in common, would resign all things for one another, and would live perfectly united.  A deep feeling of emotion stole over them.

     Matthew in the court of Lazarus' house taught a great many more of the disciples who were not so well instructed as those in the Cenacle.  They had the same kind of meal and went through similar ceremonies as those gathered in the Last Supper entrance hall.  Luke had been among the disciples only a short time, but he had received John's baptism before joining them.  He was present at the love-feast and the instruction upon the Blessed Sacrament delivered by Matthew during the evening at Lazarus' in Bethania.  After the instruction he went, troubled  and doubting to Jerusalem where he spent the night in John Mark's house.  There he met several other disciples, among them Cleophas, a grandson of Mary Cleophas's paternal uncle who had been at the instructions and the love feast given in the house of the Last Supper.

     The disciples were talking about Jesus' resurrection and expressing their doubts.  Luke and Cleophas, especially, were wavering in faith.  Moreover, as the commands of the High Priests were again made known that no one should harbor the disciples of Jesus or supply them with food, both resolved to go together to Emmaus.  On leaving John Mark's house, one turned to the right and went around out of the city in a northerly direction, and the other took a route on the opposite side, as if not wishing to be seen together.  One went straight out the city, the other made his way between the walls and out by the gate, beyond which they again met upon a hill.  They each carried a staff, and a bundle at his side.  Luke had a leather pocket.  He frequently stepped aside from the road and gathered herbs that he used in healing.

     In about the middle of their journey Jesus drew near them from a side path and joined them.  As they walked He explained many things to them.  When they reached an inn Jesus reclined at table with the two disciples and ate bread and honey with them.  Then taking a small loaf He broke off a piece and divided it into three morsels with the short, white bone knife.  These He laid on the little plate and blessed them.  Then He stood up, elevated the plate on high with both hands, raised His eyes, and prayed.  When Jesus broke the little pieces, they opened their mouth and stretched forward toward Him.  He reached His hand across the table and laid a particle in each of their mouths.  As He raised His hand with the third morsel to His own mouth He disappeared (Luke 24:13-32).

     On the evening of the same day many of the disciples and all the Apostles except Thomas assembled in the hall of the Last Supper room, the doors being closed.  Peter preached at intervals during prayers.  Although Jesus had appeared to Peter, John and James, yet the greater number of the Apostles and disciples did not fully believe in His resurrection.  They felt uneasy, thinking His appearance was not a real and corporeal one, only a vision, a phantom similar to those the Prophets had had.

     All arranged again for prayer after Peter's instruction, when Luke and Cleophas, hurrying back from Emmaus, knocked at the closed doors of the courtyard, and received admittance.  The joyful news they related interrupted the prayer.  But scarcely had it continued again when Jesus came in through the closed doors.  He showed them His hands and feet, and opening His garment, disclosed the wound in His side.  After that He taught and imparted strength to the ten Apostles who were there (Luke 24:23-43).

     Jesus appeared in many places during the days between his resurrection and ascension.  He had told the Apostles to meet Him in Galilee.  They went by different routes and in several companies from Bethania.  They met on a hill.  Five pathways planted with hedges and trees ran up the hill.  From the top of it the view extended far around the country and over the Galilean Sea.  The well of Capharnaum was at its base.  The Apostles, many of the disciples, the Blessed Mother, Veronica and the holy women were here.  Peter's wife and daughter, the wives of Andrew and Matthew had come from Bethsaida among many others.

     In a hollow place in the center stood a teacher's pillar overgrown with moss.  Peter stood on the pillar and proclaimed the passion, the resurrection, the apparitions of the Lord and the obligation of following Him.

     Jesus approached by the same route that Peter had used.  As He stepped in through the crowd, many shuddered and became alarmed.  These did not remain faithful.  Jesus went to the pillar on which Peter was standing.  Peter yielded his place to Jesus, Who spoke of abandoning one's relatives, of following Him, and of the persecution that they would have to endure.  About two hundred of His hearers withdrew when they heard Him speaking of such things.  He uttered some very grave words upon the sufferings and persecution of those that would follow Him upon the earth, and He alluded to their eternal reward (Matt 28:16-20).

     After Jesus' ascension into Heaven, and after the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, the number of faithful continued to increase.  A dilapidated synagogue in Bethsaida was converted into a church for the Community.  For the good of the Community newcomers contributed quantities of materials, fine and coarse, white and yellowish wool, carpets, canvas for tents, all in great rolls.  Nicodemus and Joseph managed everything.  Some were given to the needy, all of whom were cared for.  The Apostles themselves lent a hand in preparing the dwellings of the newcomers.  They carried to them wood, matting and wicker partitions.  They worked hard to prepare these homes.  The poor were provided with clothing.  Great order was preserved in this distribution.  The women received their portion through the hands of women; the men, from men.

     Lazarus, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea had been taking care of the temporal interests of the Community.  They had become priests and could no longer manage everything.  Stephen, a slender handsome youth, stepped forward and offered himself for the services needed.  Six others did the same.  Peter laid his hands upon them, crossing stoles from their shoulders down to under their arms.  While he did so a light was infused upon those that had not yet received the Holy Spirit.  After that the treasures and goods of the Community were delivered over to the seven deacons.  Joseph of Arimathea's house was assigned to them for their accommodation.  This house was not far from that of John Mark (Acts 6:1-6).

     On the day following the giving over of Joseph's house to the deacons, the Apostles dispersed into Judea.  Matthew and Thomas, following Jesus' orders, went to Ephesus where a colony of Jews had settled.  The two Apostles instructed these expatriates and prepared them for the future time when Jesus' Mother and many of those who believed in Him would come to dwell there.

     About a year after the Crucifixion Stephen was stoned (Acts 6:8-15).  Several years later all the Apostles met in Jerusalem.  A new persecution against them broke out and John then persuaded Mary to go with him to Ephesus.

     About nine years after the Crucifixion all the Apostles met in Jerusalem for the first Church Council as described by Luke in the fifteenth chapter of Acts.  It was then that the Apostles ruled, among other things, that Christian converts did not have to submit to circumcision.  They agreed on a statement of common belief now known as the Apostles' Creed.  They relinquished all personal possessions for the common good, and divided the world into dioceses, each with its own bishop.

     Matthew continued to preach the Gospel, mostly to the Jewish whether they lived in Judea or in Jewish settlements established in other places.  It is believed that he preached in Ethiopia, Somalia, Persia and Parthia.  Like his Master he wished to bring the message of the Good News of salvation first to the Jews, the Chosen People (Matt 10:7).  He stressed that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, about whom their prophets had spoken; Christianity was not a new religion but a continuation and fulfillment of their own belief.  In Matthew's Gospel the expression, "That the word might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet" is often used.  He took pains to explain the relationship between the Jewish scriptures and the teachings of Jesus, pointing out that many of the persons and events they honored were a prefigurament of Jesus, His love and His sufferings.  Matthew showed that Jesus' birth and sojourn in Egypt was predicted by the prophets (Matt 1:20-23 & Matt 2:1-6,14-15), that He had to struggle against the evil forces of Satan (Matt 4:1-11) andd that His teachings would eventually reach the Gentils (Matt 12:15-21 & Matt 21:42-44).  His gospel also stresses the great love we should have (Matt 5:43-48 & Matt 22:34-40)

     In order to spread his message to as many as he could, Matthew wrote down the life and events of Jesus.  He wrote in the Aramaic language which was spoken by the common people of Judea at that time.  It was the first Gospel written, having been compiled not many years after the Ascension.  Copies of it were made, each hand written and distributed to other evangelists.  As they spread out to carry the Good News to other countries where Aramaic was not spoken, each evangelist translated Matthew's Gospel as best he could.

     No copy of Matthew's original Gospel in Aramaic is known to exist.  It was translated to Greek, edited and updated in Rome during the time of the Apostles.  That version, also inspired by the Holy Spirit, is of equal authority to the other Gospels.  With them it is included in the canon of the Bible.

     For the rest of his life Matthew continued to preach, by written word and orally, the wonderful fulfillment of the Mosaic Scriptures when Christ in love suffered and died for the salvation of His people.  Since his repentence and baptism by John the Baptist, Matthew had led an austere life of fasting and abstinence, faithfully following the Jewish Law as well as the precepts of Christ.

     Jesus had said, "I have not come to call the just but sinners." (Matt 9:11-13) and Matthew had answered His call.  He was martyred probably during the persecution of Domitian.  He has been symbolized in Christian art by the young man of Ezechiel's vision. (Ezek 1:4-28)

     Levi, a hated tax collector, by the grace of God, became Matthew, a humble man, an Apostle, an Evangelist, and a Martyr.