Saint Matthias – a stained glass window (1567) in Milan Cathedral
Patrick Comerford
This is the Second Sunday in Lent, and the Year C readings in the Revised Common Lectionary for today [24 February 2013] are: Genesis 15: 1-12, 17-18; Psalm 27; Philippians 3: 17 - 4: 1; Luke 13: 31-35 or Luke 9: 28-36.
We are just four weeks from Palm Sunday [24 March 2013] and in the Gospel reading this morning we hear about Christ’s plan to set out for Jerusalem, knowing that on his arrival he faces certain death.
The feast of Saint Matthias was first placed in the Calendar of the Western Church in the 11th century, usually falling on 24 February but on 25 February in leap years. The Book of Common Prayer liturgy celebrates Saint Matthias on 24 February.
After Vatican II, the Roman Catholic Church moved his feastday to 14 May to avoid celebrating him in Lent, and to give the opportunity to remember him on a day nearer to Ascensiontide.
In the Calendar of the Church of Ireland in The Book of Common Prayer (2004) and in Common Worship of the Church of England, he is now celebrated on 14 May, although Common Worship allows him to be celebrated on 24 February, and this date is also kept in the calendars of the Episcopal Church and in many parts of the Lutheran Church.
The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates his feast on 9 August.
The Acts of the Apostles tells us that Saint Matthias was chosen by the remaining 11 apostles to take the place Judas Iscariot following Judas had betrayed Christ and died by suicide.
The calling of Saint Matthias as an apostle is unusual for he was not called personally by Christ, for his calling takes place after the Ascension and before the Day of Pentecost. Indeed, there is no earlier mention of Saint Matthias among the disciples in the Gospels.
According to Acts 1, in the days after the Ascension, the assembled disciples, who numbered about 120, nominated two men to replace Judas, Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. Then they prayed: “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” They then cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; and so he was added to the eleven apostles (Acts 1: 23-26).
There is no further information of Matthias in the New Testament. Clement of Alexandria says some identified him with Zacchaeus; the Clementine Recognitions identify him with with Paul’s companion Barnabas or with the Disciple Nathaniel in the Gospel according to Saint John. .
Other traditions say he first preached the Gospel in Judaea, then in Aethiopia or Colchis in present-day Georgia, where he was stoned to death in Colchis.
Yet another tradition says he preached the Gospel to “barbarians and meat-eaters in the interior of Ethiopia,” died in Sebastopolis and was buried near the Temple of the Sun. Another story says he was stoned in Jerusalem, and then beheaded, although Hippolytus of Rome says, Matthias died of old age in Jerusalem.
Consider how Saint Matthias is unnamed before his call, and there is no further mention of him in the New Testament. He is the forgotten apostle. Having made an unexpected entrance on the stage, he walks off the scene once again, and we hear nothing further about him, we have no more information about him.
Sometimes, even his name and his identity are confused. Sometimes he is confused with Matthew. But he is also confused with Bartholomew, one of the original Twelve, because in the Syriac version of Eusebius, he is named throughout the text not as Matthias but as “Tolmai,” and the name Bartholomew means Son of Tolmai, who was one of the original Twelve.
Although Matthias was not among the original Twelve, Clement of Alexandria says the apostles were not chosen for some outstanding character, and certainly not on their own merits. After all, Judas was chosen as one of the Twelve, and even among the others Peter denied Christ at the Crucifixion, while Thomas at first denied the Resurrection.
The apostles were chosen by Christ for his own reasons, and not for their merits. If Matthias had not been worthy of being called, how then could he have joined the Twelve at a later stage?
Ordained ministry is never about my worthiness, my merits. I have earned no right to be called to ordained ministry, to share in the priesthood of the Church. It is Christ alone who calls us. Matthias was elected not because he was worthy but because he would become worthy. Christ chooses each of us in the same way.
I am not worthy to be even a poor substitute, even a second best substitute for Judas, who had his own unique place in God’s salvific plan as it unfolded.
What do others think of you?
Does it matter?
It matters little whether I am someone’s first choice or second choice, whether I am praised or thanked for my work, whether anyone will remember my achievements, whether anyone remembers me after I die, can spell my name, or find my grave. All that matters is God’s plan, and whether I follow his call faithfully.
Saint Matthias is a living reminder of God’s grace to and for us. He was “grafted in” to the company of the Apostles, not through his own merits, but by God’s grace. We have been grafted into the company of the Children of God, not through our own merits, but by God’s grace.
Collect, Readings and Post-Communion Prayer (Lent 2):
Collect:
Almighty God,
you show to those who are in error the light of your truth
that they may return to the way of righteousness:
Grant to all those who are admitted
into the fellowship of Christ’s religion,
that they may reject those things
that are contrary to their profession,
and follow all such things
as are agreeable to the same;
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Readings:
Genesis 15: 1-12, 17-18; Psalm 27; Philippians 3: 17 - 4: 1; Luke 13: 31-35 or Luke 9: 28-36.
Post Communion Prayer:
Creator of heaven and earth,
we thank you for these holy mysteries
given us by our Lord Jesus Christ,
by which we receive your grace
and are assured of your love,
which is through him now and for ever.
Collect, Readings and Post-Communion Prayer (Saint Matthias):
Collect :
Almighty God,
who in the place of the traitor Judas
chose your faithful servant Matthias
to be of the number of the Twelve:
Preserve your Church from false apostles
and, by the ministry of faithful pastors and teachers
,
keep us steadfast in your truth;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Readings:
Isaiah 22: 15-25; Psalm 15; Acts 1: 15-26; John 15: 9-17.
Post Communion Prayer:
Lord God,
the source of truth and love,
Keep us faithful to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship
united in prayer and the breaking of bread,
and one in joy and simplicity of heart,
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Tomorrow (25 February): John Roberts, Priest
24 February 2013
Go raibh míle maith agat to three quarters of a million readers
Over three quarters of a million readers ... but who and where? (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Patrick Comerford
About seven months ago, I wrote that I have never been very fluent in the Irish language, but how two sayings show there is a profuse and generous spirit in the language.
One is the traditional way of saying thank you: Go raibh míle maith agat. It translates not simply as “Thank You,” but “May you have a thousand good things.”
Another is the phrase for welcoming someone, whether stranger or friend: “Céad míle fáilte.” It means not just welcome, but “One hundred thousand welcomes.”
At the time [14 July 2012], This blog has passed a milestone with over half a million visitors.
Late this evening [23 February 2013] this blog passed yet another milestone with over three quarters of a million visitors. Once again, three quarters of a half million welcomes to each and every one of you, and 750,000 thank yous to each of you for visiting this blog, using its resources and making yourself at home.
I have been on blogger since 10 November 2007. But there were only 13 postings that year. By 2008, it was 183, 272 in 2009, 322 in 2010, 449 in 2011, and 498 last year.
Some of my postings have been reposted on other blogs and sites in Skerries, Lichfield and Greece, I have been invited to guest write for other blogs, and I have found myself part of new communities finding new ways of communicating, including and especially those who share my condition of living with sarcoidosis.
At an early stage, I resisted having a counter. I wanted to make my sermons, lecture notes and notes for Bible studies and tutorial groups accessible to students, and to give a wider circulation to the monthly columns I write in the Church Review (Dublin and Glendalough) and the Diocesan Magazine (Cashel and Ossory). But I also wanted to give a longer shelf life to occasional papers in journals such as the Journal of the Wexford Historical Society, Search, Koinonia and the Cambridge Review of International Affairs and occasional features in publications and newspapers, including The Irish Times, the Church of Ireland Gazette, Skerries News and the Athens News.
As sarcoidosis took a cruel grip on my lungs and my breathing, I started to write too about my health and my beach walks, including beach walks in Skerries, country walks, my thoughts on architecture, especially the work of Pugin, return visits to Wexford and Lichfield, and also found myself writing about travel in Ireland and England, and to a variety of countries, especially Greece and Turkey. There were accounts too of my regular participation in summer schools with the Institute for Orthodox Studies at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.
I have never been terribly concerned about how many people have read any of these postings. If one student missed a lecture and found it here, or one person did not understand what I was trying to say in a sermon and came back here to read it, then it was worth posting.
I still resisted having a counter because I want to write to a very different set of priorities than popularity. This is a different style of writing and if I wanted to write for a mass circulation tabloid newspaper then circulation figures might have been interesting. But I feared a counter might change my style of writing. Now that I have got over that, I am very humbled that over half a million people would even consider what I am writing. That is more feedback than I ever got for a newspaper feature or a chapter in a book.
Three quarters of a million readers by this evening.
But where are you from?
And what do you read?
The statistics provided by Blogger show that the top readership figures are in the United States, followed by the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, Russia and Australia.
Many of you find this blog through Facebook.
But what are you reading?
The most popular reading has been three postings on the Transfiguration, which between them have attracted over 25,000 visitors:
The Transfiguration: finding meaning in icons and Orthodox spirituality (7 April 2010) with over 19,500 visitors;
Looking at the Transfiguration through icons (23 February 2011) with over 4,500 visitors; and
The Transfiguration: finding meaning in icons (9 April 2011), with over 1,300 visitors.
The next single most-read posting is one on the thoughts of Julian of Norwich:
All shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well (5 September 2008), with almost 8,500 visitors.
About 9,000 people have visited two postings on the Raising of Lazarus:
The grave of Lazarus (3 April 2010), over 5,500 visitors.
The Raising of Lazarus, John 11: 1-45 (30 March 2011), over 3,200 visitors.
These were Easter themes one year after another, so I was not surprised that over 1,600 people also visited Waiting at the tomb on Holy Saturday (1) (23 April 2011).
Liturgy, Icons, Orthodox spirituality and Celtic spirituality also proved interesting for thousands of readers.
The most popular lecture on Icons, The Cretan School of Icons and its contribution to Western art (27 June 2009) has had almost 4,000 visitors so far, An introduction to Orthodoxy (25 November 2009) has had over 2,300 visitors, and a similar lecture, Orthodox Spirituality: an introduction, (15 March 2010) has had over 1,300 visitors.
Two versions of a lecture on Celtic Spirituality have had pver 2,500 visitors: Introducing Celtic Spirituality (7 February 2010), over 1,800 visitors; and Introducing Celtic Spirituality (21 November 2011), with over 700 visitors.
This blog also seems to be providing you with resources for the seasons of the Church Calendar. I was overwhelmed with the number of readers for my postings on poetry and saints in Advent, Lent and Easter in recent years. Indeed, anything I post on TS Eliot attracts a large number of readers. Spirituality for Advent: waiting for Christ in all his majesty (29 November 2010), has had over 2,600 visitors, and Who is Jesus? A Lenten Talk (23 March 2011), a Lenten talk in Skerries two years ago, continues to attract readers and has had over 1,300 visitors.
I am never quite sure of my writing abilities. Perhaps I should take heart from the number of people who have read Developing writing skills (18 September 2010), which has attracted over 2,200 visitors.
I shall keep writing. But please keep on providing feedback and criticism, both negative and positive.
And each time you visit this blog I hope you find “céad míle fáilte, one hundred thousand welcomes” – in fact, 750,000 thanks to you.
Go raibh míle maith agat, may you have a hundred thousand good things.
Patrick Comerford
About seven months ago, I wrote that I have never been very fluent in the Irish language, but how two sayings show there is a profuse and generous spirit in the language.
One is the traditional way of saying thank you: Go raibh míle maith agat. It translates not simply as “Thank You,” but “May you have a thousand good things.”
Another is the phrase for welcoming someone, whether stranger or friend: “Céad míle fáilte.” It means not just welcome, but “One hundred thousand welcomes.”
At the time [14 July 2012], This blog has passed a milestone with over half a million visitors.
Late this evening [23 February 2013] this blog passed yet another milestone with over three quarters of a million visitors. Once again, three quarters of a half million welcomes to each and every one of you, and 750,000 thank yous to each of you for visiting this blog, using its resources and making yourself at home.
I have been on blogger since 10 November 2007. But there were only 13 postings that year. By 2008, it was 183, 272 in 2009, 322 in 2010, 449 in 2011, and 498 last year.
Some of my postings have been reposted on other blogs and sites in Skerries, Lichfield and Greece, I have been invited to guest write for other blogs, and I have found myself part of new communities finding new ways of communicating, including and especially those who share my condition of living with sarcoidosis.
At an early stage, I resisted having a counter. I wanted to make my sermons, lecture notes and notes for Bible studies and tutorial groups accessible to students, and to give a wider circulation to the monthly columns I write in the Church Review (Dublin and Glendalough) and the Diocesan Magazine (Cashel and Ossory). But I also wanted to give a longer shelf life to occasional papers in journals such as the Journal of the Wexford Historical Society, Search, Koinonia and the Cambridge Review of International Affairs and occasional features in publications and newspapers, including The Irish Times, the Church of Ireland Gazette, Skerries News and the Athens News.
As sarcoidosis took a cruel grip on my lungs and my breathing, I started to write too about my health and my beach walks, including beach walks in Skerries, country walks, my thoughts on architecture, especially the work of Pugin, return visits to Wexford and Lichfield, and also found myself writing about travel in Ireland and England, and to a variety of countries, especially Greece and Turkey. There were accounts too of my regular participation in summer schools with the Institute for Orthodox Studies at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.
I have never been terribly concerned about how many people have read any of these postings. If one student missed a lecture and found it here, or one person did not understand what I was trying to say in a sermon and came back here to read it, then it was worth posting.
I still resisted having a counter because I want to write to a very different set of priorities than popularity. This is a different style of writing and if I wanted to write for a mass circulation tabloid newspaper then circulation figures might have been interesting. But I feared a counter might change my style of writing. Now that I have got over that, I am very humbled that over half a million people would even consider what I am writing. That is more feedback than I ever got for a newspaper feature or a chapter in a book.
Three quarters of a million readers by this evening.
But where are you from?
And what do you read?
The statistics provided by Blogger show that the top readership figures are in the United States, followed by the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, Russia and Australia.
Many of you find this blog through Facebook.
But what are you reading?
The most popular reading has been three postings on the Transfiguration, which between them have attracted over 25,000 visitors:
The Transfiguration: finding meaning in icons and Orthodox spirituality (7 April 2010) with over 19,500 visitors;
Looking at the Transfiguration through icons (23 February 2011) with over 4,500 visitors; and
The Transfiguration: finding meaning in icons (9 April 2011), with over 1,300 visitors.
The next single most-read posting is one on the thoughts of Julian of Norwich:
All shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well (5 September 2008), with almost 8,500 visitors.
About 9,000 people have visited two postings on the Raising of Lazarus:
The grave of Lazarus (3 April 2010), over 5,500 visitors.
The Raising of Lazarus, John 11: 1-45 (30 March 2011), over 3,200 visitors.
These were Easter themes one year after another, so I was not surprised that over 1,600 people also visited Waiting at the tomb on Holy Saturday (1) (23 April 2011).
Liturgy, Icons, Orthodox spirituality and Celtic spirituality also proved interesting for thousands of readers.
The most popular lecture on Icons, The Cretan School of Icons and its contribution to Western art (27 June 2009) has had almost 4,000 visitors so far, An introduction to Orthodoxy (25 November 2009) has had over 2,300 visitors, and a similar lecture, Orthodox Spirituality: an introduction, (15 March 2010) has had over 1,300 visitors.
Two versions of a lecture on Celtic Spirituality have had pver 2,500 visitors: Introducing Celtic Spirituality (7 February 2010), over 1,800 visitors; and Introducing Celtic Spirituality (21 November 2011), with over 700 visitors.
This blog also seems to be providing you with resources for the seasons of the Church Calendar. I was overwhelmed with the number of readers for my postings on poetry and saints in Advent, Lent and Easter in recent years. Indeed, anything I post on TS Eliot attracts a large number of readers. Spirituality for Advent: waiting for Christ in all his majesty (29 November 2010), has had over 2,600 visitors, and Who is Jesus? A Lenten Talk (23 March 2011), a Lenten talk in Skerries two years ago, continues to attract readers and has had over 1,300 visitors.
I am never quite sure of my writing abilities. Perhaps I should take heart from the number of people who have read Developing writing skills (18 September 2010), which has attracted over 2,200 visitors.
I shall keep writing. But please keep on providing feedback and criticism, both negative and positive.
And each time you visit this blog I hope you find “céad míle fáilte, one hundred thousand welcomes” – in fact, 750,000 thanks to you.
Go raibh míle maith agat, may you have a hundred thousand good things.
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