In this famous Caravaggio of “The Calling of St. Matthew” we see Matthew pushing away the coins and holding his hand to his chest in a gesture that says to Christ, “Me?” (Picture above)
Look up the real one online.It is quite stunning. Remember Matthew turned away from his unfair-tax-collector ways and became a disciple of Christ.He also wrote the first Gospel.
To Make: Since Matthew is the patron of bankers, accountants, etc, he is represented by coins.If you can happen to remember to buy chocolate coins when you are at the store this month, you can just stick some of these on a cupcake for his feast day.Could you clean real coins enough to go on cupcakes?I don’t really know—but it is a thought . . .
And because he is the patron of finances, he is a good resource for prayer for those who have careers dealing with money, for those who are struggling managing their money, and even for our country in this time of economic uncertainty.
To Pray: Prayer to St. Matthew
Dear publican become a Saint, after once gathering taxes and tolls how wonderful was your conversion by grace when discarding your earthly possessions you followed the Poor Man of Nazareth. The Mammon of Money is still worshiped. Inspire those responsible for our money with kindness and with the desire to help where they can; for what is done to the least, to the poor, is done to Jesus, the Son of Man. Amen.