Matthew

"Matthew…was absolutely convinced that Jesus was the One sent by God to establish the Reign of God in the final days as promised by the prophets of ancient Israel. The Evangelist then presented Jesus as the fulfillment of his people's expectations.…But Matthew believed that Jesus was something more. He was also a reinterpreter of those traditions.…Matthew believed that Jesus was the fulfillment of ancient Israel's hopes, but he fulfilled those hopes in a way that went beyond all expectations."—From "Getting to Know Our Director" In this seven-day retreat, Going Beyond the Law, your director is Matthew the Evangelist, author of the first Gospel. His words will help you to understand how Jesus fulfilled his role as Messiah and brought about the age "foreseen by the prophets and longed for by the pious." Matthew does not disregard the traditions of ancient Israel, but casts them in a new light—the Light of the World.