“The Calling of St. Matthew” (1599-1600) by Michaelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio:

When I was studying my 2nd semester of Art History at Academy of Art University in my pursuit of a career in fashion writing, this piece, by Caravaggio, was one of the hundreds of art pieces we studied, but no other piece struck me quite like this one. One huge reason was because it reminded me so much of home, and of our St. Matthew's community in National City. And so, since returning home in 2015, every year when the Feast of St. Matthew comes around, I very happily remember this painting.

One of the great masterpieces of the Baroque era of art, this painting is based on Matthew 9:9: “As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.” Here, Caravaggio captures what is called a “baroque moment” - the dramatic moment of tension just before a life-changing, transformational, awesome event occurs. In this case, it is the moment just before Matthew realizes his calling and chooses to rise and follow Jesus. 

St. Matthew's National City is hiring a 15-hour/week Children, Youth, and Family Minister to coordinate and oversee all aspects of Sunday morning Christian formation and worship for ages 0-18, and support parents in their at-home Christian formation activities. 

Good news: now you can help support the good work of St. Matthew's, National City by creating your own Facebook fundraiser!

Facebook fundraisers make it easy to help raise money for our community. Create a birthday fundraiser, or share your own story of what St. Matthew's means to you, then share the fundraiser with your friends! St. Matthew's will receive 100% of all the funds you raise.

Just follow these steps:

We have new pastoral leadership coming to St. Matthew's: The Rev. Roberto Maldonado! Read on for the official announcement from St. Matthew's Bishop's Warden, Julian Sanchez, and from Fr. Roberto himself.

I'm strumming in 4/4 time at 100 bpm trying to follow a chord sheet that's taped to my friend James’ back while walking down the sidewalk in National City. We exited the church and started down the sidewalk just as a city bus stopped. Several people got off then, unknowingly, processed with us until we turned the corner to go around the block.

As 2020 comes to an end, I spent some time reviewing pictures on my Facebook account from this past year, and had three special realizations in the process:

The first: almost all of the pictures I posted this year were old memory pictures! In previous years, I’ve had plenty of travel opportunities to fill my feed with photo ops, but this year, since we are in the middle of a pandemic, as with most people, I’ve lived a more grounded and slower-paced lifestyle and traveled very little. Lesson learned: life still goes on even when we stay grounded, live quietly and simply.

Above: A typical group picture with friends, pre-2020

In the multitude of my thoughts within me Thy comforts delight my soul. Psalm 94:19

I currently work as a physician at a prison. This is actually my second go-round at this: in the past, I got burnt out and ended up quitting. After quitting, I got another job right away, but, then, after a year, I felt a call to reapply for my old job at the prison. Why? Only God knows. 

The rehiring process turned out to be rather easy, which was curious: it’s usually a very tedious process to apply - one needs to be interviewed by several people, get state clearance and then be credentialed. This is when I realized that God must have guided me to be where I am supposed to be.

But just because the rehiring process was surprisingly easy, taking care of the prison population  remains very much a challenge. Some days, it feels very fulfilling, but some days it is so mind-boggling, unrewarding and thankless to the point that it ruins my whole day, and makes me feel like giving up.

Then, on a recent Sunday morning, I attended Sunday morning service at St. Matthew’s and was touched and moved by the sermon given by our priest, The Rev. Colin Mathewson. The sermon is about the greatest commandment, and loving your neighbor as yourself. Fr. Colin, who also serves at St. Luke’s, North Park, talked about their other church project: they opened a place where the homeless population can take showers. The first homeless person who availed of their shower said he felt “human” after months of not having a place to get a decent wash -- similar to having his dignity back. Fr. Colin mentioned giving back a person’s dignity is fulfilling one of our duties as Christians. 

“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24

One morning, as I prepared for another fine gardening day, I set aside a few minutes to spend meditating with the divine in my small backyard. During that time, I observed in silence all that was going on around me: the flowers and small trees I had just watered appeared so refreshed. The hummingbirds were feasting at our bird feeders, each enjoying a different feeder all to themselves.