St Matthias.

Feast Day, May 14th

Why were we given only a glimpse of him at such a momentous occasion in the history of the apostles creating the early church? 

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When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles took their places at the table.

He said to them, "I have really looked forward to eating this Passover meal with you. I wanted to do this before I suffer. I tell you, I will not eat the Passover meal again until it is celebrated in God's kingdom."

After Jesus took the cup, he gave thanks. He said, "Take this cup and share it among yourselves. I tell you, I will not drink wine with you again until God's kingdom comes."

Then Jesus took bread. He gave thanks and broke it. He handed it to them and said, "This is my body. It is given for you. Every time you eat it, do it in memory of me."

In the same way, after the supper he took the cup. He said, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. It is poured out for you. But someone here is going to hand me over to my enemies. His hand is with mine on the table. The Son of Man will go to his death, just as God has already decided. But how terrible it will be for the one who hands him over!"

The apostles began to ask each other about this. They wondered which one of them would do it. Luke 22:14-23  

  I doubt that they also wondered at that time who would replace the betrayer.

Acting on instruction, Peter and others called a meeting of all the disciples together at the home of Mary. One hundred and twenty of the disciples of Christ got together to hear the report of the resurrection and ascension and the message of His peace Christ left with them all. 

Of course, Mary, Mother of God was there. She had returned to Jerusalem with John Zebedee. James, the brother of Jesus was also present at this meeting. Peter spoke on behalf of his fellow apostles and offered them all an update of the last meeting of the eleven with Christ and gave a beautiful and emotional account of Christ's final farewell to them from Earth and his ascension disappearance. It would have been like no other meeting before or since.

Peter then explained that there must be a relacement for Judas Iscariot, and that a vote must be taken with the help of the Holy Spirit. The eleven apostles then went downstairs, where they agreed to cast lots in order to determine which of these men should become an apostle to serve the Lord in place of Iscariot. Matthias was duly chosen through the vote and so was announced there and then as Christ's new apostle.  

Matthias had no part in the previous acts of the apostles - and was not mentioned by the first gospel writers although there is much theory as to who he was and whether or not he might have been referred to by a different name(s). 

Jesus taught us using parables. Christians today can still look at the parables and find something new and relevant within the words of each one - even if we think we know the lessons to learn, we can still find great wisdom when we discern them again and again over time. With this in mind - may we consider the election of Matthias more deeply?

I am suggesting this for deep and prayerful thought: Was Matthias representative of each and every person called to continue the ministry of Christ? Those not chosen directly by Christ when He walked the earth as the Son of Man but by the command of the Holy Spirit as heard within the hearts and minds of people. That one people-elected apostle, previously unmentioned yet duly installed and authorised to continue the ministry of Christ. Let's face it, they could have been directed by the Holy Spirit to wait just a wee bit longer for Paul, couldn't they?

There is so much to be learned through the prayerful discernment of Scripture - it relates not just to an era 2000+ years ago, but to us, here and now. Could it be that Matthias represents us... that we are Matthias? The elected apostle deep within each of us so worthy of paramount and much needed Christian evangelism, chosen to replace the one who betrayed Christ. One of twelve chosen to spread the only Truth needed to be heard by the whole world. 

Was Matthias' election yet another huge and (arguably) overlooked lesson which needs to be revisited; when the worldwide Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church seems to be falling apart in front of our very eyes? We certainly need to look at the birth, life and ministry and execution of Christ a little harder than we have done as we live in an age of atheism, secularism and Christians spouting hate for one another from every corner of the globe. Christian leaders are turning into moral cowards as they choose to placate rather than lead: to side with prejudice rather than stand and be counted for all those marginalised and persecuted; as Christ was. The Christian world is choosing to keep its mouth shut so as not to offend other religions. We have clergy bowing in the face of the ever-dominating Christian fundamentalists consumed with hate. We have clergy who are condemning of women pursuing their call to ministry, claiming Christ had no female disciples. We have (mainly) Roman Catholic clergy who condone the death of millions through the spread of HIV - rather than encourage the use of condoms - and they can seemingly look at those gut-wrenching images of babies and infants with dead parents, screaming before their own death, and still do nothing to address it. 

We hear the misappropriation of monies within church funds - the oppulence and almost sickening flaunting of wealth that is within The Vatican City and some clergy determined to better their last publicly seen 'outfit' of vestment splendour. We have clergy who spread the Word of their sexuality more loudly than the Word of God through publicising their lifestyle with more zeal than their mission in Christ. Worst of all, we have clergy who have crossed the boundaries of decency, and we now know about decades of cover ups within the Church to protect this evil from damaging, not our children, but the Roman Church! 

We all know that Christ loved all people of God - ALL people - but does this message have to be used as nothing more that a cheap platform to champion the rights of clergy rather than the the rights of ALL men and women, irrespective of their personal lives and loves? 

We have clergy splitting with clergy over gender issues relating to the hierarchy of the Church rather than serious and anti-Christian behaviours seen on our streets, in our classrooms, homes and workplaces. We can't wear crosses anymore because it offends other faith systems and atheists. We cannot tackle aggressive behaviours in children in case their Human Rights are violated. We must treat those who habitually break the law with huge pots of funding and counselling rather than punishing them for their almost sociopathic behaviours. We have cases of child abuse within the ranks of clergy which are continually white washed... covered up. And we have senior clergy encouraging the laws of Islamic faith (Sharia) to be seriously considered as a necessary political 'bridge' for religious tolerance within Christian countries to the detriment of the Christian faith. Good grief - if Christian clergy cannot see that if don't stand up and be counted using the Words of Christ today - then we really are all working for satan's plan.

Judas failed Jesus, big time. Matthias replaced him. Could Judas represent humanity still betraying Christ and if this is the case; just who does Matthias represent?

Could it be that ministry of every clergy woman and man called to serve God since the times of the apostles is represented by Matthias - the disciple elected to replace the betrayer of God? The apostle we know nothing about? Nothing to measure our own ministry by, no recorded ministry before his election or after it - all we have is the knowledge of his being an authorised disciple put in place of the one who had Jesus crucified. Matthias was not chosen by Jesus, as all the others were. Matthias was

selected through the power of Holy Spirit via the gathered people to replace the betrayer, Judas Iscariot. Although we know nothing of him, I doubt he puffed out his chest and decided that because he was chosen by the Holy Spirit it gave him the right to rewrite the gospels and replace them with his own judgements, opinions and needs. Matthias would never have substituted the Word of God for his own human bigotry. Of that I feel certain. Peter at the election had one criterion. 

Like Andrew, James, John, and himself, the new apostle must be someone who had been a disciple from the very beginning, from his baptism by John until the Ascension.

The new apostle would and must become a witness to Jesus' resurrection. He must have followed Jesus before anyone knew him, stayed with him when he made enemies, and believed in him when he spoke of the cross and of the Lord's Supper to be celebrated in His remembrance. He would have seen it a a privilege to serve God's people. He would have made the right noises or remained silent when he needed to. His actions would have been fresh from the mouth of the Christ he knew and loved.

All deacons, priests and bishops have been chosen in the same way ever since. Let us all put the gospels before our own opinions and be ready to do His works as we are called to. Let us put the needs of all the Children of God way in front of our own. With God's help, let each and every one of us start to love again all humanity showing people within our communities our acts of pure faith and not our personal crusades involving personal prejudice or personal lives. All of those things should have gone when we were ordained - when we were called to serve God and live His word. It is hard and we can get it wrong - but we must keep on striving to get it right - for the Sake of God and the salvation of all our eternal souls. It also makes for a nicer and kinder and more loving stay while we are all here on earth!

Clement of Alexandria said that Matthias, like all the other apostles, was not chosen for what he already was, but for what the Holy Spirit  foresaw he would become. He was elected not because he was worthy but because he would become worthy. We are all chosen in the same way.

What does Jesus Christ want you to become? Who you were and why is not important. It is who you can be and why - that is the key.

 With my love, +Nicola