Being open to what God asks us this day
Reflections on the readings for the Feast of St. Matthias, Apostle (May 14, 2019): ACTS 1:15-17,20-26; PS 113:1-2,3-4,5-6,7-8; JN 15:9-17
MISSIO offers “Preaching Mission,” as a homily help, providing connections to mission from the readings of Sundays, Feast Days and Holy Days.
Today we honor St. Matthias who was selected to become an Apostle after Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus and died by his own hand.
After Christ ascended to heaven, Peter asked a group of about 120 men and women disciples to choose an appropriate candidate. “‘It is necessary that one of the men who accompanied us the whole time the Lord Jesus came and went with us… become with us a witness to His resurrection.’ So they proposed two.… Then they gave lots to them, and the lot fell to Matthias, and he was counted with the Eleven Apostles” (Acts 1:21-25). Scriptures tell us no more about him but, according to tradition, Matthias preached in Ethiopia and Turkey. Because an axe was often shown in artwork depicting him, it is thought he was martyred by beheading.
In the very earliest days of the Church, Peter and his fellow Apostles realized that the mission entrusted to them by our Lord meant that they must testify to His life and death, resurrection and ascension. As one of the many who traveled with Christ, Matthias was an eyewitness to His message and miracles. The Apostles were willing to spend the rest of their lives offering the gift of salvation through Jesus who sacrificed His life for us. Those men understood that they had been called to let all who would listen accept that the world had been transformed. Because the Creator of the universe sent His Son among us, St. Matthias and the others willingly went wherever Almighty God sent them. Now we can imitate these loyal followers of our Lord by sharing our faith with others.
