Salve, Regina, Mater Misericordiae.
Praise be Jesus Christ.
Today we celebrate the memorial of St. Matthias.
And the first reading explains the election of, we could call him the 13th apostle,
the one who would take the place of Judas.
After the ascension of our Lord, the apostles, the 11, gathered in the upper room
with Our Lady, Mother of the Church, gathered in prayer around the Mother of God.
And as the scripture says, they numbered 120.
All together, there were other disciples who were also present.
And they were praying for the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Then, St. Peter, as vicar of Christ, stood up and addressed the crowd there assembled.
And then he cited Psalm 108, which says,
And his bishopric let another take.
In Psalm 108, we see that David,
David, in the person of Christ, is praying against his persecutors.
And this is one of the famous imprecatory psalms.
There are 30 verses of imprecations,
which are to oppose the 30 pieces of silver that Judas used to betray our Lord.
And it foretells and approves of his just punishment
for his office.
obstinacy and sin and for his final impenitence. And as we also heard in St. Peter quotes,
it says, let his bishopric or and his bishopric let another take. So St. Peter uses this opportunity
to elect a successor to Judas or rather a replacement substitute for Judas to bring
the number of the apostles to completion. So that it would be the number 12, that symbolic number
that replaces the 12 tribes of Israel. And they will sit on 12 thrones at the last day in judgment
over the peoples. And so whether there were two men of equal merit, Joseph, also called Barsabbas
and Matthias. And so in order to give the choice,
to our Lord, they cast lots and a lot fell to Matthias. Now, as for the rest of St. Matthias'
life, we know very little. We know pretty much that he was called to be an apostle and that
he persevered in his vocation. And really, this is enough for us. It's enough for our reflection
this morning because each and every one of us has been called. We have a vocation.
Either to the married life, the wife and mother, or to the religious life, or as priest, etc.
And the important thing is that we persevere in our vocations, that we persevere to the end.
And we see how today this is a rare thing in married life. What is it now? 50% of couples
end up in divorce. No perseverance. How about religious?
And in the religious life, or priests who abandon their ministry, where's the perseverance?
So we see a good model and example just in this little that we know of St. Matthias.
The fact that our Lord called him to a holy vocation and he persevered in it and became a saint.
And as our Lord says in the gospel, this is necessary for our salvation, that we persevere
in our vocations.
He who perseveres to the end will be saved. And he who puts his hand to the plow and looks back
is not fit for the kingdom of God. And so we ask the intercession of St. Matthias that he obtain for
us the grace of final perseverance. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.