Apostle (First Century)
His life
+ The Acts of the Apostles tell us that Matthias was a “witness of the Lord’s ministry and Resurrection”
+ Matthias was chosen to take the place of Judas Iscariot as one of the Twelve Apostles (Acts 1:15-26) and he was present on Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles.
+ According to some ancient traditions, Matthias preached the Gospel in Ethiopia. Other traditions say that he ministered in the region of Cappadocia (in modern-day Turkey).
+ Saint Matthias is honored as a martyr and his relics are enshrined in the Abbey of St. Matthias in Trier, Germany.
Spiritual bonus
Today the Church also remembers a group of lay Christians who were martyred together on May 14, 1801, near the “Small West Gate” in Seoul, South Korea. These martyrs—Choe Pil-je Petrus, Yun Un-hye Lucia, Jeong Bok-hye Candida, Jeong In-hyeok Thaddeus, and Jeong Cheol-sang Carolus—were beatified with other Korean martyrs in 2014.
For reflection
“While there is no lack of unworthy and traitorous Christians in the Church, it is up to each of us to counterbalance the evil done by them with our clear witness to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.”—Pope Benedict XVI
Prayer
O God, who assigned Saint Matthias
a place in the college of Apostles,
grant us, through his intercession,
that, rejoicing at how your love has been allotted to us,
we may merit to be numbered among the elect.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from The Roman Missal)
Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.
And today we celebrate...