Feast of St. Matthias, Apostle
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May 14, 2020As we celebrate St Mathias we hear that Luke makes a point to write that there were 120 people in the group. 120 was what was needed for a community to be recognized. Luke is showing that these followers of Jesus are now forming a new community. A community focused on another way of life, a way of life centered on Jesus’s way of life.
Every community needs to have leaders and people of every position: presidents, or on a smaller level, mayors or community managers, officers, and committees. Communities need to have people in every walk of life, for the community to flourish. Just like a family that needs to have parents to lead and all members to make it complete.
In the church, we have leaders throughout the world: the Pope, Cardinals, Bishops, Priests, Deacons, religious organizations or communities, all the way down to the local parish. Within the church, so many people do different things, different responsibilities. We could not have a community without all of this.
Mathias was chosen by God to fill in for Judas in a leadership role as this new community is developing. There is not much known about him except that it is thought that he was baptized by John the Baptist and then followed Jesus as a disciple.
Each of us has a role in the community, communities of a family, neighborhood, and esp. church. Living our role is very important to be the Christians we are called to be. Apparently, Mathias was living what he learned from Jesus. There were probably great gifts and talents he had that the Holy Spirit led them to choose him as a leader.
As we hear in the Gospel, when we live out our particular calling as a disciple of Jesus and follow what Jesus taught, and love one another as He loved us, then our JOY will be complete. As we celebrate today, pray to St. Matthias to know and realize your role in the community, and respond for the sake of the community to know Jesus more, and that your joy, along with those you touch by your gifts, will be complete for all eternity.
