Feast of St. Matthias, Apostle
In the first reading for today, Peter and a crowd of Jesus’ followers gather to elect a new apostle to lead and tend to the world’s first Christians. This is one of the few times that Judas is mentioned after Jesus’ crucifixion and death. I imagine this could have been a tense moment for the apostles. They finally have to address the fact that one of their members betrayed them, and as a consequence, there is now an imbalance to their core group.
Peter, though, does not use this opportunity to badmouth Judas or publicly condemn him. He simply uses Scripture to name Judas’ faults and then moves on. He also uses the opportunity to name one very important aspect of Judas’ life that I think goes overlooked. While addressing the crowd, Peter states that Judas was “numbered among us and was allotted a share in this ministry” (Acts 1:17). It’s the last word in this line that struck me—ministry. Peter is reminding us that Judas—just as the other apostles he was numbered with were, and just as we are today—was called by God to apostolic ministry. The root of Judas’ betrayal of Jesus and fall from grace may always remain a mystery, but in our studying both the character and person of Judas I don’t think we can forget the fact that he was called to serve God’s people and love as God loved him (John 15:9).
Judas’ decision to walk away from God’s promise of love and life of ministry reminds me of one of my favorite metaphors: the plentiful harvest. In the Book of Matthew Jesus tells his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few” (Matthew 9:37-38). I like this metaphor because it’s so easy to visualize and understand. Well…really any Biblical metaphor with food is easy for me to understand because I like food, but it’s the visual allure of a field full of food and a scarce scattering of people to harvest its fruits that gets me. The image reminds me of all the riches of God’s love and mercy that I am missing out on amidst the distractions and temptations of everyday life.
This image also reminds me that Judas had access to the harvest just as much as I do. He was invited to the harvest, to the feast, and yet he walked away from it. I am both challenged by Judas’ example and Peter’s words to live up to my call to apostolic ministry; to be counted as one of the apostles as Matthias was; and to live out the Gospel’s words: “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain…” (John 15:17). It is my hope and prayer that I can have the courage to enter the field and that my ministry will bear fruit that will remain.
—Sr. Rose Rucoba, FMI