Author Archives: Matthew Pullar

22.Sometimes we relished watching Him put others in their place; other times, we were the ones being corrected. The feast was getting ready and many were called, but who would be wearing the right clothes to join? I can see it now like I couldn’t then. The right clothes were His: the humility of acceptingContinue reading “Christmas with St Matthew 10”

19.Why did we send away those children, forgetting what He had told us, forgetting how little we ourselves were? Perhaps it was the feeling of largeness, of value, that we felt when He sparred against the Pharisees, the sense that we were part of something new, something great breaking in. And we were. But theContinue reading “Christmas with St Matthew 9”

16.then we were so slow to understand – afraid even when we forgot bread, as though the last two miracle feasts weren’t enough. Were we really any better than the Pharisees with their demands for a sign? We had all the signs we needed, yet didn’t quite get it. He had come to serve, notContinue reading “Christmas with St Matthew 8”

14.Something I never understood about him in those days was how he could give when he was empty. Like the time his cousin died, killed by that fox Herod, and he took the news quietly, went to be by himself in his grief, and yet, when the crowds followed and invaded his silence he couldContinue reading “Christmas with St Matthew 7”

12.And what was this about David’s mighty men? What was he doing comparing us to them when all we were was hungry? And what was that about all of us being his true brothers and sisters? I who until moments ago had been disowned by my own brother. (James caught my eye, it’s true, whenContinue reading “Christmas with St Matthew 6”

10.And there I was, one of the new twelve, eleven new brothers including my own, James, the brother I could hardly even dare claim. From a family that could scarcely look me in the eye, here I was: restored not only to my own brother, but given another ten. And away we were sent, compelledContinue reading “Christmas with St Matthew 5”

7.This also intrigued me: that he should tell everyone not to judge, yet also tell them not to give pearls to pigs. Hadn’t I been tainted with that brush, accused of working with pigs, cuddling up to the gentile swine? Did the command not to judge apply in all cases except mine? And yet –Continue reading “Christmas with St Matthew 4”