Feast of Saint Matthias, Apostle
May 14, 2021
Feast of Saint Matthias, Apostle
Lectionary: 564
Reading I
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
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.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I chose you from the world,
to go and bear fruit that will last, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
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.”
Reflection: LOVE LEADS TO JOY
Love and joy are inseparable in the gospel of St John, the Evangelist. As a continuation to the discourse on love, Jesus furthers his explanation on the love that flows from God the Father, the love into which he is drawn, and the love that we are invited to imbrue and to share. However, the key to such love consists in so far as Jesus mandates it, by showing the commandment of love that is not burdensome but leads to joy. This is paradoxical to the standards of the world wherein love is understood in the sense of a compromise, an opportunity to gain, resulting in the proliferation of the very nucleus of the virtue of love. Notice how Jesus develops the discourse on love: commandment that demands love, the love that leads to joy. Such joy leads to friendship, a friendship that calls for even laying down one's life for the other. Only in doing so, we will bear fruit that lasts forever. On this note, the feast of St Mathias the Apostle that we celebrate today draws our attention to grasp the essence of love that Jesus invites us to. The Church is not a perfect community or does not always have the perfect model group of disciples. The reason could be the failure on our part to understand the commandment of love that Jesus wants to embrace and live up to. Chosen through a cast of lot, St Mathias embodies the commandment of love, and truly lived up the demands of such love.