United States Catholic 

Feast Day: September 21st

St. Matthew, pray for us. 

Jesus said, “Follow Me,” and Matthew became his disciple. Matthew, a tax collector – a profession often viewed as corrupt and untrustworthy – was working in Capernaum when he encountered Jesus.

He is a great example of the transformative power of faith.  He was an apostle, an evangelist and a missionary. As an apostle, he was with Jesus through his ministry, at the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, the Ascension, and Pentecost.

He – like many missionaries – spread the Good News after Pentecost. At first in his own land and then he ventured east – towards present day Iran. He wrote the one of the Gospels. St. Matthew viewed his mission as a way to convince and reassure the people following Jesus that Jesus is the Messiah, "the son of the Living God." (Mt 16:16)

St. Matthew – also known as Levi – is the patron saint of accountants, taxi drivers, actors, and bookkeepers. St. Matthew continues to be a missionary. 

Support the mission of USCMA by visiting smile.amazon.com and search for United States Catholic Mission Association. 

It’s been half a lifetime since Ben OuYang – a self-professed “ABC,” or American-born Chinese – stumbled upon a Chinese Catholic church in suburban Maryland. It happened roughly 30 years ago, when he was a graduate student at the University of Maryland.

The Rochester native attended Catholic school throughout his youth but didn’t fare so well in weekend Chinese school. His parents had been advised not to teach their children Chinese so they wouldn’t grow up speaking English with an accent. The Chinese school dropout now calls his lack of diligence “a blessing in disguise,” because he grew up to be an educator, including positions as a school counselor, assistant principal, principal, and director. 

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