St. Matthew is introduced to us as Levi, son of Alphaeus, a Publican (a tax-gatherer), a man despised and hated by the Jews. To the Jewish people the name Levi meant someone devoted or attached to the worship of God. The Jewish people could not have been further from this statement. Our Blessed Savior meets him at the Custom house, where he is doubtless engaged in the work of collecting taxes at Capernaum, a town on the borders of the Sea of Galilee. His position most assuredly put him in the service of the Romans, making him a traitor in the eyes of his fellow Jews. All this would change. One day he was told in a voice of authority, "Come and follow me," and with no hesitation he rises and follows his Lord and Master. Jesus changed his name and called him Matthew, which means "gift of God."