Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Wednesday of the fourth week of Easter, May 14, 2025, Feast of Saint Matthias, Apostle

Delivered by Ellyane from the Parish of Saint James in the Diocese of Surabaya, Indonesia. Acts of the Apostles 1: 15-17.20-26; Rs psalm 113: 1-2.3-4.5-6.7-8; John 15: 9-17.MATIAS SOLUTION The title for our meditation today is:Matias Solution. It is said in the Acts of the Apostle, the first reading oftoday, Matthias is the chosen apostle to complete the 11 existing apostles, toreplace Judas Iscariot. According to St. Peter, Judas the traitor was theleader of those who arrested Jesus. With this complementary act, the number ofleaders of the early Church was back to perfect with number 12. The task to complete is the solution.It is not just a supplement or just a spare part and a backup section. It hasthe quality to be a determine factor. Peter says about this quality, that the12 qualified apostles were the witnesses in all of Jesus' events, from John'sbaptism until Jesus ascended into heaven. The complementary role here is veryimportant. He was the key point. He became the determinant of an incompletestructure of the community. If without him, the structure was limp, defective,and useless. His role was as important as the other apostles, namely, being thewitness of the resurrection of Christ. A concrete comparison would be thestructure of the 12 apostles and the Pope with the colleage of bishops of theChurch. Their common duty is to be the sign of communion in the Church. ThePope takes the position of the apostle Peter and the bishops who lead thedioceses are the apostles. They are leaders who are the first to give usexample of fellowship and being in the community. God wants and providesfullness and completeness as an absolute condition for all our hopes. If thereis still a hole or deficiency, it means it is not complete, still lacking,imperfect, and not yet meet the will of God. The Lord Jesus wants to share theriches of heavenly gifts with the apostles and all those who believe in Him, sothat all of them would obtain the fullness of joy. As Jesus left the apostlesand the Church to go up to heaven, that fullness of joy was manifested in theexperience of peace, certainty and being courageous to live in the midst of theworld while not having Jesus’ presence physically. The principal condition isto stay in His love. The word "do not be afraid" means to live in Hislove and be always with Him. The Holy Spirit is sent from Heaven tomake life full of joy and love. Love and joy surely overcome fear, worry,anxiety and prejudicial. They were strengthened, like when we received theSacrament of Confirmation! In the same way, as Jesus makes every one of us Histrully friends, He certainly makes us full and complete with joy. We need tothank Saint Matias for inspiring us on this day of his feast. Let's pray. In the name of theFather ... O dear and loving God, may we do an active role in completing whatis lacking or missing in our journey of faith. Hail Mary full of grace ... Inthe name of the Father ...