FR REMI HOMILIES/REFLECTIONS AND SERMONS

HOMILY FOR THE FEAST OF ST. MATTHIAS THE APOSTLE Acts 1:15-17, 20-26; Ps.113; John 15:9-17 God purposefully calls us Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Matthias, one of the apostles of Jesus who though was not initially chosen by Jesus when others were called, was later chosen to replace Judas after the latter had betrayed Jesus and committed suicide. We may need to ask: was it necessary that Judas be replaced? Must the number of the apostles be twelve? Couldn’t the remaining eleven carryout the ministry Christ entrusted to them? What we find here is the purposefulness of God’s call. God does not call on impulse; he has a well-defined mission for each and every one of us. This was clearly made known to Jeremiah: “before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born I set you apart, and appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Jer.1:4-5). It is the mission that necessitates our calling. God did not call us and then assigned a mission to us; rather, there is a mission to b...