This Saint story is part of the newly re-titled series I am doing called "Coffee with the Saints." Read more here: Coffee with the Saints
Tomorrow is May 14th, which, in the current Roman Calendar, is the feast of St. Matthias. Only a small amount is known about St. Matthias, but what is known is important and worth talking about.
St. Matthias is mentioned for the first time in the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, after Jesus' has died, been Resurrected, and has Ascended into heaven, but before Pentecost when the Holy Spirit would come down upon the Apostles. In this time, the Apostles realize (under Peter's leadership) that they need to choose a man to replace Judas Iscariot, and so they nominate two men. It was decided that the two men that they put forward to choose for election had to "have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us" (Acts 1:21-22). They chose one man whose name was "Joseph called Barsab'bas, who was surnamed Justus" and the other was Matthias. The Apostles pray that God would choose, and then they cast lots (seriously, that's how they did-Acts 1:26), and the lot falls upon Matthias, who is then enrolled with the eleven disciples (cf. Acts 1:25-26).
Other than this story, not much is known factually about the life of Matthias (there are some sources, but is hard to know what is historically accurate since Scripture doesn't include any more about him). What we do know is this: Matthias was chosen to be an apostle, and he became part of the group which traveled out and spread the Gospel to all the nations. We also know that, like almost all of the Apostles, Matthias was martyred for the sake of the Gospel.
What can we learn from the story of Matthias?
One thing that we can see is a man who did not expect, most likely, to be chosen as an Apostle; he was one of a larger group of 70, and may have very much liked being part of the big group but not having to make any of the tough decisions. Maybe he knew he was called to be a leader and this was no surprise, or maybe he hated being in charge and this decision made him very sad. While we can't know how he really felt about this, we can know this: Matthias was chosen by casting lots, and yet he didn't doubt ("I swear I thought it landed on him; let's cast again"), but rather he simply went out, following this call, and helped to spread the Gospel to all nations while giving his life as a martyr.
If we are ever thrust into a situation where we unexpectedly have to lead, or we are ever brought in to replace someone who messed up big time, we can look to Matthias for his intercession and his help. Matthias was brought into leadership under the unfortunate circumstances of Judas' betrayal of Jesus and his suicide, but he did not use the tough situation as an excuse to be ineffective in his ministry. Let us all follow that example and never see a situation as too difficult, but rather let the Lord work in our lives in whatever way He wants to.
St. Matthias the Apostle, PRAY FOR US!
