ST. MATTHAIS - APOSTLE (2024)

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

I chose you from the world
to go out and bear fruit,
fruit that will last,
says the Lord. JN 15:16

ACTS 1:15-17,20-26 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

Judas, the betrayer, enjoyed all the privileges of the Apostles handpicked by You. For three years he lived with You, shared meals with You, traveled with You walking long distances with You, and listening to You preach and teach. He was a witness to the many signs and wonders You performed. He knew that You had authority over all creation. At Your Word people were healed, the dead were raised to life, and nature obeyed You. At Your Word, the loaves of the fish miraculously multiplied and thousands were fed, and yet, and yet, he betrayed You and gave You up to the enemy.

We cannot take our salvation for granted. We cannot presume that we are saved but have to work out our salvation moment by moment in fear and trembling. Judas freely chose to forsake his place of honor and chose the path of perdition.

In the First Reading on the Feast of St. Matthias, we see the Magisterium at work for the very first time. Peter exercises the authority given to him when You declared him to be the Rock on which You would build Your Church. He announced that in accord with Sacred Scripture, another was to be chosen to take the place of the betrayer to complete their number of Twelve. ‘We must therefore choose someone who has been with us the whole time that the Lord Jesus was travelling round with us, someone who was with us right from the time when John was baptising until the day when he was taken up from us – and he can act with us as a witness to his resurrection.’

Two candidates were nominated. They prayed and then cast lots: ‘Lord, you can read everyone’s heart; show us therefore which of these two you have chosen to take over this ministry and apostolate, which Judas abandoned to go to his proper place.’  They then drew lots for them, and as the lot fell to Matthias, he was listed as one of the twelve apostles. 

Thank You, Lord, for the authority given to Peter and his successors and for Your assurance that the gates of hell will never prevail against her for You keep her safe from the interminable assaults of the devil and will do so until You return.

PSALM 112(113):1-8 ©

Praise, O servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord!
May the name of the Lord be blessed
both now and for evermore!

From the rising of the sun to its setting
praised be the name of the Lord!
High above all nations is the Lord,
above the heavens his glory.

Who is like the Lord, our God,
who has risen on high to his throne
yet stoops from the heights to look down,
to look down upon heaven and earth?

From the dust he lifts up the lowly,
from the dungheap he raises the poor
to set him in the company of princes,
yes, with the princes of his people.

The Lord sets him in the company of the princes of his people.

JOHN 15:9-17 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

If we desire to remain in Your love, O Lord, there is one way and one way alone to do so, we must obey Your Commandments. God is our Creator and we must follow the instruction manual He has given us, the Ten Commandments only when we do can we function as He created us to. You were sent into the world as one of us, Lord, and You remained in Your Father's love by keeping His Commandments - You show us how we can remain united with God - we must obey Your Commandments which are the same as His.

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.

Without You O Lord, without faith, without the boundaries set for us by the Wisdom of God, our lives will be dismal, hopeless, bland. Life would be a burden and every moment we are alive would seem endless. It isn't any wonder that a vast majority of people in the world live frenzied lives hoping to find an easy elixir to joy. There isn't one except the one given to us by our Maker. If we are to live in joy. If we are to experience joy. If we are to have the wellspring of joy in us then there is only one way - we keep Your commandment. 

I have told you this
so that my own joy may be in you
and your joy be complete.
This is my commandment:
love one another, as I have loved you.

You not only tell us how we are to keep Your commandment:

A man can have no greater love
than to lay down his life for his friends.

You actually did so. You gave up Your life for us. You who are God and the Son of God, the Eternal Word of the Father, gave Yourself up into the hands of sinful men in order to enter into the depths of human degradation and forsakenness and tasting the death that is the lot of all human being, made it possible for us to rise to new life in Your glorious resurrection.

Thank You for choosing us, Lord. As cradle Catholics, we are truly unable to comprehend the great gift given to us. It is only when we read the conversion stories of non-Catholics and non-Christians who are baptized into the Catholic Church, and their abundant joy and wonder at having at last come to the knowledge of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness that are found only in the Church, Your Body, Your Bride, that we fall on our knees in humble gratitude, thanksgiving and worship that we received our faith as infants.

With privileges come also duties and responsibilities. We are commissioned to witness to the faith we are given. Thank You, for the Holy Spirit that enable us carry out the mission entrusted to us.

You did not choose me:
no, I chose you;
and I commissioned you
to go out and to bear fruit,
fruit that will last;
and then the Father will give you
anything you ask him in my name.
What I command you
is to love one another.

Keep me close to You Lord, and faithful to Your commandments to the end.