Today is the feast day of St. Matthias. He was added to the group of apostles in Acts 1 to replace Judas, who hung himself, in order to bring the number of apostles back up to twelve.
I can relate to Matthias a lot. When the first class of deacons for the Diocese of Orange was selected, I was not included in the group of twenty candidates. The reason given for me not being selected was my age (I was too young), and the fact that St. Norberts already had three candidates. About a week before classes were to begin they called and asked me if I still want to join the group. Apparently one candidate dropped out and the Bishop wanted the class size to be twenty. During that time San Antonio parish was founded so I was no longer a candidate from St. Norberts. It was very awkward joining the group at the last minute and it took a while to be accepted. I would guess Matthias felt the same way !
We are often in situations that are awkward when we are called upon to defend our faith. Acts 1:21 says; “ the whole time the Lord Jesus came and went among us.” Take courage because the same is true for us. May the witness of St. Matthias and all the saints inspire us to proclaim the gospel in our environment. If necessary use words !!
DeColores, Deacon Doug