YEAR OF MATTHEW

What distinguishes Matthew's account of the Gospel story from the others is his concentration on the words of Jesus. His portrait of Christ is basically that of the master, the teacher of the new law. His technique is simple. He gathers the sayings of Jeses into five major discourses or 'sermons' and uses them as the skeleton round which he builds his Gospel. The five sermons are:

The sermon on the mount Chs. 5-7
The mission sermon Ch. 10
The parable sermon Ch. 13
The community sermon Ch. 18
The final sermon Chs. 23-25

The 'sermons' represent the core of the catechetical instruction of the liturgy in the first year of the cycle. Matthew's Gospel underlines his conviction that the Lord is with His Church, "always to the end of time". This is the theology which Matthew offers us. The abiding presence of the Lord has guided the evangelist in his choice of themes. Each theme gives us an insight into the nature of the Church and Christ's activity through it. The mystery of the Church is the centre of Matthew's theology - and this leads us to the theology of the Church and the theology of the sacraments.

The narrative parts of the Gospel are intertwined with the five discourses to give us a carefully worked-out catechetical instruction of the whole Gospel. From a very early stage Matthew's Gospel was recognised as 'the ecclesiastical Gospel'. He starts with a principle in theology, 'Christ the sacrament of the encounter with God' and develops it in line with the present experience of the Lord's abiding presence and activity in the Church, namely through the sacraments. The Gospel of Matthew, therefore, essentially deals with the mystery of the Church and the sacramental life.

With these principles before us we can begin to appreciate the riches of the Gospel which the Church puts before us. Our lives are intimately linked with the Church and we share the life of Our Lord through the life-giving power of the sacraments. We realise even more that the Church, through the Sunday readings the Gospel, has built its own programme of catechetical instruction into the framework of the liturgy when we all come together as a community to worship God.

STAGE ONE:
THE FIGURE OF JESUS THE MESSIAH
[SUNDAYS 1 - 2]

1. The baptism of Jesus
2. The witness of John the Baptist

STAGE TWO:
CHRIST'S DESIGN FOR LIFE IS GOD'S KINGDOM
[SUNDAYS 3 - 9]

3. The call of the first apostles
4. Sermon on the mount (1)
5. Sermon on the mount (2)
6. Sermon on the mount (3)
7. Sermon on the mount (4)
8. Sermon on the mount (5)
9. Sermon on the mount (6)

STAGE THREE:
THE SPREAD OF GOD'S KINGDOM
[SUNDAYS 10 - 13]

10. The call of Levi
11. The mission sermon (1)
12. The mission sermon (2)
13. The mission sermon (3)

STAGE FOUR:
THE MYSTERY OF GOD'S KINGDOM
[SUNDAYS 14 - 17]

14. The revelation of the simple
15. The parable sermon (1)
16. The parable sermon (2)
17. The parable sermon (3)

STAGE FIVE:
GOD'S KINGDOM ON EARTH - CHRIST'S CHURCH
[SUNDAYS 18 - 24]

18. The feeding of the five thousand
19. Jesus walks on the water
20. The Canaanite woman
21. Peter's Confession: primacy conferred
22. The passion prophesied: discipleship
23. The community sermon (1)
24. The community sermon (2)

STAGE SIX:
AUTHORITY AND INVITATION - THE MINISTRY ENDS
[SUNDAYS 25 - 33]
 
25. The parable of the labourers
26. The parable of the two sons
27. The parable of the wicked vinedressers
28. The parable of the marriage feast
29. Paying tribute to Caesar
30. The great commandment
31. Hypocrisy and ambition
32. The final sermon (1)
33. The final sermon (2)

STAGE SEVEN:
GOD'S KINGDOM FULFILLED
[SUNDAYS 34]

34. The Solemnity of Christ the King