Saint Matthias, The Chosen

 

Not much is known about Saint Matthias except that, by way of casting lots, he was chosen to replace Judas. 

The traitor died of an accident (following the First Reading in Acts 1).

The other candidate was a certain Joseph called Barsabbas (also called Justus).

From the description of the requirements for the apostolic ministry, we have a glimpse of what kind of person Saint Mathias was. 

First, he was with Jesus as a follower during the latter’s entire earthly ministry, starting from Jesus’ baptism by John to his ascension into heaven (Acts 1:21-22a). Second, he had seen the Risen Jesus (Acts 1:22b). Third, Mathias was chosen by the Lord Jesus himself (Acts 1:24-25). 

After this “election,” we have no more information about him in the Bible. The tradition that he faced martyrdom’s death comes from apocryphal writing in the 2nd century A.D., the Traditions of Matthias.

The Gospel Reading for this feast is the section where Jesus leaves to his disciples the commandment to love one another (Jesus’ Farewell Discourse in John 15:9-17).

The sign of true discipleship is fraternal love (philadelphia in Greek). Its foundation is the love on the part of Jesus, that love coming from the Sacred Heart:  “Love one another as I have loved you.” 

The highest proof of love is the giving of one’s life (“No greater love,” No mas amor). Because of it, the relationship between Jesus and his disciples has leveled up: from master and slave (student) to friend and friend (philos, same nuance for “love” in the Greek philia). The giving of Jesus’ life becomes a paradigm of what it means to follow Jesus as a disciple or apostle.

In Acts (Acts 1:15-17, 20-26, First Reading for the Feast of Saint Matthias), we read that are two qualifications to become an apostle: 

    (1) the candidate must have followed Jesus during the latter’s entire earthly ministry;

    (2) that he was a witness of the resurrection of Jesus.

These are what we can call external requirements.

There is, however, an internal requirement, one that must define who (and not what) an apostle should be—that criterion of love laid out by the Master. That could be the reason why an apostle must have been all the time with Jesus: to learn the ropes of love, so to say. We would like to think that Matthias had it. Thus, he was “the chosen.”