May 14 – Feast of St. Matthias, Apostle
St. Matthias (d. 80) was an Apostle. As he could bear witness to the Resurrection of Jesus, he was chosen to replace Judas Iscariot. He preached the Gospel for more than 30 years in Judaea, Cappadocia, Egypt, and Ethopia. He is remembered for preaching the need for mortification of the flesh with regard to all its sensual and irregular desires. He was martyred in Colchis in AD80 by stoning.
- Patron Saint Index
Acts 1:15-17,20-26
Jn 15:9-17
“It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you”
In 2016, I completed the Rite of Christian Initiation (RCIA) at my parish and was baptised into the faith. However, that RCIA was not my first tango with the Church. I had previously attended RCIA at another parish, but did not go through with the baptism despite having completed all sessions. As an adult convert, my faith journey has never always been smooth. The road to baptism had been punctuated with doubt, questions and hesitation.
While in the early days of my baptism, I frequently prided myself for eventually ‘choosing’ to be baptised, it is now with eyes of faith that I see it was God who had chosen me and gently nudged me to be part of His flock. From the minute that I stepped foot in Mass and decided that I would come again next week, God had already planted the seed of faith in me. And like a patient Father with his petulant child, He tolerated my tantrums and rejections.
This is why I was struck by this line in today’s Gospel reading: “You did not choose me: no, I chose you”. It is a good reminder to us that God has already chosen us from the very start. As chosen children of God, we are asked to fulfil Jesus’ command to “love one another”, in much the same way that we are asked by our Father to love our brothers and sisters in Christ.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Jacob Woo)
Prayer: We pray for the wisdom to see the Lord at work in our lives, and the courage to fulfil His commandments.
Thanksgiving: Lord, we thank you for choosing and loving us as Your children.
OXYGEN 
Leave a comment