He remained and he was rewarded!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

May 14, 2019: Remembering St. Mathias the Apostle

Acts 1: 15-17, 20-26; John 15: 9-17

The place of apostle Judas was empty and they consulted the Lord as to who should fill that place! They were inspired to have the criterion that Jesus himself proposed: it had to be one who had 'remained'! Remain in me, said Jesus. And they looked for someone who had remained with them from the beginning to the end. 

Mathias (for that matter even Justus and so many others) had never aspired for anything. They could have had no clue about it. But they remained with Jesus; and after Jesus had gone, with the rest of the band of followers.

Mathias looked forward to nothing except that of being with Christ and he was rewarded for it with a responsibility. He never chose or claimed or aspired to be an apostle, he was chosen to be, because he remained in His love.

This is what the Lord invites us to: to remain in his love and to love each other with the same love as a sign of our discipleship. Surely the Lord will choose to use us as His apostles. 

To Remain, in our daily life, would mean - to love the Lord, to love the Lord amidst all odds, to love the Lord constantly, to love the Lord without making it a bargain to be blessed, to love the Lord because we have been first loved by the Lord, to love the Lord never to desert the Lord come what may! How prepared am I to Remain?