Remaining Grace – Br. Luke Ditewig

Br. Luke Ditewig

Saint Matthias the Apostle

Acts 1:15-26
John 15:1, 6-16

Today is the feast of St. Matthias who replaced Judas among the twelve apostles. Matthias had been with them since John baptized Jesus in the Jordan. Perhaps he was one of the 70 whom Jesus sent out. Hardly anything is written about him. The apostles selected two candidates. They drew lots thereby choosing Matthias.

The group probably wasn’t seeking a big personality. They already had that in Peter, James, and John. Now they were amid grief and change as Jesus had ascended back to heaven. They likely sought stability, one who had been with and would remain with them. Remaining with through grief and loss is hard.

In language from the gospel, Matthias chose “to abide in Christ” and this company of friends. Abide can mean to live in, to make yourself at home. There’s a gutsy quality to it. Abide also means to remain or to stick with through challenge. Jesus says: the Father stuck with me. I’ll stick with you no matter what. Abide in my love, Jesus says. Remain with me.

Remaining doesn’t mean being static, staying the same. Benedictine Michael Casey wrote: “Stability is not immobility. It’s the knack of remaining constant in the midst of change.”[i] Constancy comes through daily habits of showing up, contributing, listening, being kind, giving thanks. Being gracious with our frailty and the imperfection of those around us. Constancy is all the little choices day by day choosing to stay and seek God right here.

God invites and empowers by grace to abide, to stick with each other, remaining through the hard, being constant in the daily. This our life and what Blessed Matthias reminds us of today.

[i] Michael Casey (2005) Strangers to the City: reflections on the beliefs and values of the Rule of Saint Benedict. Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press, p.191.