The Feast of St. Matthias

Homily for the Feast of St. Matthias

All of the Scripture readings for the Feast of St. Matthias include some element that speaks of “choice.” The reading from the Acts of the Apostles is the account of the actual choice of Matthias to take the place of Judas. After two candidates were chosen, the apostles and disciples of Jesus, about 120 in number, prayed for direction in making the choice. With faith that God had heard their prayer, they chose Matthias by lot rather than by reason. This approach to choosing may not be in accord with our modern sensibilities about discernment, but it seems to have been effective. No one asked for a “do-over” as we are prone to do when things don’t go our way.

In the responsorial psalm for today, Psalm 113, we are reminded that God’s choices are not always the same as ours as God is prone to raising up the lowly and the poor to sit among princes. Even the verse we read before the proclamation of the Gospel speaks of the fact that God has chosen us to go into the world and to bear fruit through our life of adherence to the commandments.

St. John’s Gospel reminds us that it was God who chose us rather than we choosing God. While the human tendency when reading this might be to congratulate ourselves on God’s choice, it is important that we remember all of the choices that God made throughout the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. So frequently, God’s choices involved the least able or least likely for the task at hand. When God needed a spokesperson, God chose Moses who, we are told, had a speech impediment. When God chose a warrior to stand before the giant Goliath, God chose a scrawny teenage shepherd boy. When Jesus chose the apostle upon whom he would build his Church, he chose the one man who more frequently than anyone else stuck his foot in his mouth and spoke without thinking. Truly, God’s ways are not our ways.

As we celebrate this feast in honor of the apostle Matthias, we give thanks for the witness of his life which brought many to the faith. We also ask God’s blessing upon ourselves that we will always have the perseverance we need to remain in God’s love.