Acts 1:15-17, 20-26 / John 15:9-17
St. Matthias, whose feast we celebrate today, seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and was drawn by lots to replace Judas.
Yes, he seemed to have appeared out of nowhere as there were no mention of him in the four gospels.
But St. Peter made clear the criterion for the selection of the candidate - "We must therefore choose someone who has been with us the whole time that the Lord Jesus was travelling around with us, someone who was with us right from the time when John was baptising until the day when He was taken up from us - and he can act with us as a witness to His resurrection.
And after prayer and drawing lots, St. Matthias was chosen to replace Judas as one of the 12 apostles.
That was the first time we heard of St. Matthias in the Scriptures, as well as the last.
Yet we can draw some reflections on the selection of St. Matthias as one of the apostles.
Although he was not personally chosen by Jesus, yet the Church exercised the authority that is bestowed upon her by Jesus in the selection of the future leaders of the Church to continue the apostolic succession.
St. Matthias was chosen not just because for what he already was, but for what he would become.
He was chosen not because he was worthy, but because Jesus would make him worthy.
As for us, what we already are is a foundation and a preparation for what we would become in our service of God.
Like St. Matthias we would also be made worthy for our service of God.
We only need to pray that we will make ourselves available when Jesus calls us.