May 14, 2007 Feast of Saint Matthias, Apostle

  2007년 5월 14일 성 마티아 사도 축일

 

 제1독서 사도행전 1,15-17.20-26

15 그 무렵 베드로가 형제들 한가운데에 서서 말하였다. 그 자리에는 백스무 명가량 되는 무리가 모여 있었다. 16 “형제 여러분, 예수님을 붙잡은 자들의 앞잡이가 된 유다에 관해서는, 성령께서 다윗의 입을 통하여 예언하신 성경 말씀이 이루어져야 했습니다. 17 유다는 우리 가운데 한 사람으로서 우리와 함께 이 직무를 받았습니다.
20 사실 시편에 ‘그의 처소가 황폐해지고 그 안에 사는 자 없게 하소서.’ 또 ‘그의 직책을 다른 이가 넘겨받게 하소서.’라고 기록되어 있습니다.
21 그러므로 주 예수님께서 우리와 함께 지내시는 동안 줄곧 우리와 동행한 이들 가운데에서, 22 곧 요한이 세례를 주던 때부터 시작하여 예수님께서 우리를 떠나 승천하신 날까지 그렇게 한 이들 가운데에서 한 사람이 우리와 함께 예수님 부활의 증인이 되어야 합니다.”
23 그래서 그들은 바르사빠스라고도 하고 유스투스라는 별명도 지닌 요셉과 마티아 두 사람을 앞에 세우고, 24 이렇게 기도하였다.
“모든 사람의 마음을 아시는 주님, 이 둘 가운데에서 주님께서 뽑으신 한 사람을 가리키시어, 25 유다가 제 갈 곳으로 가려고 내버린 이 직무, 곧 사도汰?자리를 넘겨받게 해 주십시오.”
26 그러고 나서 그들에게 제비를 뽑게 하니 마티아가 뽑혀, 그가 열한 사도와 함께 사도가 되었다.

복음 요한 15,9-17

그때에 예수님께서 제자들에게 말씀하셨다.
9 “아버지께서 나를 사랑하신 것처럼 나도 너희를 사랑하였다. 너희는 내 사랑 안에 머물러라. 10 내가 내 아버지의 계명을 지켜 그분의 사랑 안에 머무르는 것처럼, 너희도 내 계명을 지키면 내 사랑 안에 머무를 것이다. 11 내가 너희에게 이 말을 한 이유는, 내 기쁨이 너희 안에 있고 또 너희 기쁨이 충만하게 하려는 것이다.
12 이것이 나의 계명이다. 내가 너희를 사랑한 것처럼 너희도 서로 사랑하여라. 13 친구들을 위하여 목숨을 내놓는 것보다 더 큰 사랑은 없다. 14 내가 너희에게 명령하는 것을 실천하면 너희는 나의 친구가 된다.
15 나는 너희를 더 이상 종이라고 부르지 않는다. 종은 주인이 하는 일을 모르기 때문이다. 나는 너희를 친구라고 불렀다. 내가 내 아버지에게서 들은 것을 너희에게 모두 알려 주었기 때문이다. 16 너희가 나를 뽑은 것이 아니라 내가 너희를 뽑아 세웠다. 너희가 가서 열매를 맺어 너희의 그 열매가 언제나 남아 있게 하려는 것이다. 그리하여 너희가 내 이름으로 아버지께 청하는 것을 그분께서 너희에게 주시게 하려는 것이다.
17 내가 너희에게 명령하는 것은 이것이다. 서로 사랑하여라.”

 

 

 

 May 14, 2007

 Feast of Saint Matthias, Apostle

 Reading 1
Acts 1:15-17, 20-26

Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers and sisters
(there was a group of about one hundred and twenty persons
in the one place).
He said, “My brothers and sisters,
the Scripture had to be fulfilled
which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand
through the mouth of David, concerning Judas,
who was the guide for those who arrested Jesus.
Judas was numbered among us
and was allotted a share in this ministry.
For it is written in the Book of Psalms:

Let his encampment become desolate,
and may no one dwell in it.
and:
May another take his office.

Therefore, it is necessary that one of the men
who accompanied us the whole time
the Lord Jesus came and went among us,
beginning from the baptism of John
until the day on which he was taken up from us,
become with us a witness to his resurrection.”
So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas,
who was also known as Justus, and Matthias.
Then they prayed,
“You, Lord, who know the hearts of all,
show which one of these two you have chosen
to take the place in this apostolic ministry
from which Judas turned away to go to his own place.”
Then they gave lots to them, and the lot fell upon Matthias,
and he was counted with the Eleven Apostles.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 113:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8

R. (8) The Lord will give him a seat with the leaders of his people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Praise, you servants of the LORD,
praise the name of the LORD.
Blessed be the name of the LORD
both now and forever.
R. The Lord will give him a seat with the leaders of his people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
From the rising to the setting of the sun
is the name of the LORD to be praised.
High above all nations is the LORD;
above the heavens is his glory.
R. The Lord will give him a seat with the leaders of his people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Who is like the LORD, our God, who is enthroned on high
and looks upon the heavens and the earth below?
R. The Lord will give him a seat with the leaders of his people.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He raises up the lowly from the dust;
from the dunghill he lifts up the poor
To seat them with princes,
with the princes of his own people.
R. The Lord will give him a seat with the leaders of his people.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Gospel
Jn 15:9-17

Jesus said to his disciples:
“As the Father loves me, so I also love you.
Remain in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father’s commandments
and remain in his love.

“I have told you this so that my joy might be in you
and your joy might be complete.
This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I no longer call you slaves,
because a slave does not know what his master is doing.
I have called you friends,
because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
This I command you: love one another.”

 

 

 Commentary

 

 When the apostles number only eleven they choose another who is a witness to the resurrection. They pray and draw lots between two candidates, and Matthias is chosen to replace Judas. He completes the number twelve, though we know nothing else of him. Perhaps it is the process that is most instructive and crucial: It is God who reads the hearts of humans and makes known who is to be a leader. Who and how should our leaders be nominated? We should pray and choose by lot-what a difference there would be in who was chosen and how the Church moved in the world.

Again Jesus keeps telling us that everything is love-as the Father has loved him, he loves us! And if we obey his word/commands we will live in that love, now and forever and we will know the joy of Jesus who obeys. We are called to love unto death, call everyone beloved, treat all as friends because that is the love we have known from God.

 

 

 This passage, from the Acts of the Apostles, has always fascinated me. In the aftermath of the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Early Christian community was called upon to choose a replacement for Judas.
This group was given the choice between two eligible candidates: Joseph Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. Since today is the feast of St. Matthias, Apostle, it’s pretty clear who was chosen.

In these kinds of passages, I’m always curious about what happened to the” loser.” We never definitively hear about Joseph Barsabbas again. Oh, sure there are legends. But what really became of him? We assume, of course, that he remained among the Early Christian community, only not as an apostle. What a fate, though, to be a loyal follower of Jesus and one step away from the chosen 12, only to lose out.

These political mechanizations are necessary among organized groups, yet they all have the same phenomenon in common: one person will be named and rise, and one or more others will fall back into the background, perhaps to disappear from the organization’s record altogether. It all seems so – what is the word? – human.

This all contrasts with the Gospel passage, which is about love and friendship. “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Could it be that the outcome of the election provided a greater spiritual opportunity for Joseph Barsabbas than for Matthias? Having lost the chance to become an apostle, he was in a position to go one of two ways – to cut his losses and seek another group, or to “lay down his life,” therefore continuing on in loyalty, fully supporting the chosen Matthias.

Since my daughters swim in a swim club here in Omaha, Nebraska, I had the privilege of watching many races over the years. Some of the races were blowouts, with the winner winning by a few seconds or more. But some of the races were very close, with perhaps a tenth or a hundredth of a second separating the winner from the next swimmer. I have seen races where everyone was sure that one swimmer was going to win, only to see that swimmer get “out-touched” by another swimmer at the last second.

I often think, when I see the second-place swimmer bow her head in disappointment, how many times the difference between jubilation and remorse hangs in the balance of perhaps one hundredth of a second. We focus on times; it’s good that the second-place swimmer reflects on her progress – perhaps it was a best time ever for her. Also it is probable that the second-place swimmer pushed the winner to swim a best time. The winner “owes” at least a part of the credit for her winning performance to that second-place swimmer.

In the case of Matthias and Joseph Barsabbas, maybe Joseph’s presence as a serious candidate made Matthias a better leader. Perhaps Joseph’s presence was the difference between Matthias the Disciple and Matthias the Saint.

 

 by
Brian Kokensparger
Arts and Sciences

 

 

What does love have to do with commandments?  These two words feel and look like opponents.  And for good measure there’s the word ‘if’ in the middle! “You will remain in my love if you keep my commandments.” 

It calls for a fresh look.  If someone is showing you how to do something - how to drive a car, for example -  he or she might say, “Follow these instructions now and you won't go off the road, you will stay on course.”  We don’t feel that this must be a bossy person: he or she is simply showing you how to do something.  Likewise Jesus in this passage (and everywhere else) is showing us how to love.  But the faith has mostly been presented to us in an authoritarian way, and it is hard to free it of that colouring; a stench of death continues to hang over many words. 

Even in the Old Testament, the ten commandments (in their original setting) were presented as ways of remaining free!  “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; therefore you shall have no other gods before me…” and so on to the other nine commandments (Exodus 20:2,3). 

If someone gets the wrong idea, we call that misinterpretation.  But there is another kind: it is when someone gets the wrong feeling.  This often happens, even between friends; and it is at least as serious as the other; it is harder to sort out.  When it comes to our religion we have to be alert to this.  It should be a major part of a theologian’s work.  We have to make a sustained effort to salvage the Scriptures and our faith from heretical feelings!  

 

 

"I have called you friends, for all that I have  heard from my Father I have made known to you" 

  Do you know the love that produces immeasurable joy? Jesus speaks of the love which the Father and he have for those who belong to him.  We can never outgive God in love, because he has loved us without measure. Our love for him is a response to his exceeding mercy and kindness towards us. Paul the Apostle tells us that we can abound in joy and hope because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us (Romans 5:5).  In God's love we find the fulness of grace, life, peace, and joy. Jesus gives his disciples a new commandment -- a new way of love.  We are to love others as Jesus has loved us.  What is the essence of this new commandment?  True love is sacrificial.  It gives all to the beloved.  And there is no greater proof in love than the sacrifice of one's life for the sake of another. Jesus proved his love for his disciples by giving his life for them, even to death on the cross. We prove our love for God and for one another when we embrace the way of the cross.  What is the cross in my life?  When my will crosses with God's will, then God's will must be done.  Do you know the joy and contentment of a life fully surrendered to God and consumed with his love?

Do you know the friendship of God?  one of the special marks of favor shown in the scriptures is to be called the friend of God.  Abraham is called the friend of God (Isaiah 41:8). God speaks with Abraham as a man speaks with his friend (Exodus 33:11). Jesus, the Lord and Master, in turn, calls the disciples his friends rather than his servants. What does it mean to be a friend of God? Friendship with God certainly entails a loving relationship which goes beyond mere duty and obedience. Jesus' discourse on friendship and brotherly love echoes the words of Proverbs: A friend loves at all times; and a brother is born for adversity (Proverbs 17:17). The distinctive feature of Jesus' relationship with his disciples was his personal love for them. He loved his own to the end (John 13:1).  His love was unconditional and wholly directed to the good of others.  His love was also sacrificial.  He gave the best he had and all that he had.  He gave his very life for those he loved in order to secure for them everlasting life with the Father.

True love is costly. Those who truly love give the best they can offer and are willing to sacrifice everything they has for the beloved.  God willingly paid the price for our redemption — the sacrifice of his only begotten Son. That's the nature of true friendship and love — the willingness to give all for the beloved. True friends will lay down their lives for each other. Jesus tells us that he is our friend and he loves us whole-heartedly and unconditionally. He wants us to love one another just as he loves us, whole-heartedly and without reserve. His love fills our hearts and transforms our minds and frees us to give ourselves in loving service to others. If we open our hearts to his love and obey his command to love our neighbor, then we will bear much fruit in our lives, fruit that will last for eternity. Do you wish to be fruitful and to abound in the love of God?

"Teach us, good Lord, to serve you as you deserve, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to ask for any reward, save that of knowing that we do your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord."  (Prayer of Ignatius Loyola)

Psalm 113:1-8

1 Praise the LORD! Praise, O servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD!
2 Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore!
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the LORD is to be praised!
4 The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens!
5 Who is like the LORD our God, who is seated on high,
6 who looks far down upon the heavens and the earth?
7 He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
8 to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people.

 

 'THE DIRTY WORK'

'The choice fell to Matthias, who was added to the eleven apostles.' Acts 1:26

The Lord used several people to prepare the way for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the first Pentecost. Mary was interceding, Peter came back from his triple denial of Christ and began to lead, and Matthias said 'Yes' to the difficult calling of taking Judas' place.

Matthias took a job in which the last guy disgracefully sold Jesus and then committed suicide. The apostles were locked up by fear, hurt, and trauma, but Matthias answered God's call despite the impossible circumstances.

Before the Holy Spirit comes this year, we need new Matthiases to take the jobs that not many people want, to do the work sure to be unappreciated, to love those who will not reciprocate, and to serve those who will respond with persecution. Remember, we don't choose what we want to do. Jesus the Lord does the choosing; we do the obeying. Jesus said: 'It was not you who chose Me, it was I Who chose you' (Jn 15:16).

The Spirit is given to those who obey God (Acts 5:32). Obey God's call on your life. Put yourself even in a painful position. Take up your daily cross (Lk 9:23). Then 'receive the Holy Spirit' (Jn 20:22).

Praise: St. Matthias faithfully followed Jesus throughout His public ministry (Acts 1:21-22), answered God's call, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit fell upon him.
Prayer: Jesus, I've tried to avoid the most important calls in my life. I surrender to You. Come, Holy Spirit!
Promise: 'As the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you. Live on in My love.' Jn 15:9

 

 

«I have told you all this, that my own joy may be in you and your joy may be complete»

Today, the Church remembers the day when the Apostles chose the disciple of Jesus who was to replace Judas Iscariot. In one of his homilies St. John Crisostom quite rightly says: «When we are to opt for persons who must have a certain responsibility we may have to face certain rivalries or discussions». This is why St. Peter «simply ignores the envy that it might have arisen», and leaves it up to chance and divine inspiration, thus, avoiding such possibility. And this Father of the Church goes on saying: «And it just so happens that quite often important decisions may be very upsetting».

In today's Gospel, our Lord speaks to the Apostles of the joy they should have: that «my own joy may be in you and your joy may be complete» (Jn 15:11). And, sure enough, a Christian, like Matthias, will happily live with a quiet joy if he assumes the various events of life from the grace of divine filiation; otherwise, he is bound to be carried away by false annoyances, foolish jealousies or some kind of prejudice or other. Joy and peace are always fruit of the exuberance of our apostolic commitment and of our struggle to become saints. It is the logic and supernatural outcome of love for God and of a spirit of service towards our fellowmen.

Romano Guardini wrote: «The source of joy is to be found in a person's deeper intimacy (...). It is there where God resides. Then, joy widens and makes us glitter. And all that is beautiful can be perceived by us in all its brilliance». When we feel unhappy we must know how to pray along with St. Thomas More: «Lord, give me a sense of humor and I will find happiness in life and profit for others». And, let us not forget St. Teresa of Avila also begged: «O Lord, save me from these sullen-faced saints, for a sad saint is a sorry saint».
 

 

 We might wonder what Matthias thought about his being chosen an apostle by a roll of the dice.    If the roll had been different, another would have been chosen.  It is a very humbling thought.   But for chance – and the grace of God – things would have been different.   Through all of Matthias’ life, he would need to remind himself that he was not an apostle because he merited it.    And we should have similar ideas.   But for the grace of God, we would be pagans and terrible sinners.   Somehow, in his infinite mercy, he has called us to faith.   We must always be humble and grateful.   We can claim no good thing to our own credit.  All that we are and all that we have that is good comes from God. 
We know little about Matthias except that he was chosen by lot.   This story is a great proof of “apostolic succession.”  Matthias is numbered with the other apostles.   The apostles have handed on to him what they themselves received.  Let us rejoice that the Church today is the same as the Church which Jesus established.  Our Bishops are the successors of the apostles.   The Church is still guided by apostolic leadership under the Holy Spirit.