SPEAKER_00: In the first reading today, we see the church has experienced its great first betrayal.
SPEAKER_00: Judas is gone.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine the pain, the confusion, and the scandal of that moment.
SPEAKER_00: One of the twelve, one of the men who walked with Jesus, heard his preaching, witnessed miracles, sat at the Last Supper, completely falls apart.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, what is remarkable in this, the church does not collapse.
SPEAKER_00: Peter stands up, the line matters.
SPEAKER_00: Because the Acts of the Apostles, Peter is constantly the one who stands up.
SPEAKER_00: He takes leadership, he strengthens the brethren, he guides the church forward.
SPEAKER_00: And what does Peter do?
SPEAKER_00: He moves to fill that empty place left by Judas.
SPEAKER_00: That's important because it teaches us something profound about the church.
SPEAKER_00: The mission of Christ is bigger than the failures of individual members.
SPEAKER_00: The betrayal of Judas was terrible, yes, but the gospel continues.
SPEAKER_00: The weakness of men do not stop the work of God.
SPEAKER_00: That's been true for 2,000 years.
SPEAKER_00: There have always been scandals, always betrayals, always sinners inside the church.
SPEAKER_00: Yet the church continues because the church does not belong to us, it belongs to Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes people will say, Well, if the church were really holy, there wouldn't be sinners in it.
SPEAKER_00: But that's like saying a hospital is fake because six people sick people are inside.
SPEAKER_00: The church has always been a place where weak human beings are being transformed by grace.
SPEAKER_00: And then we meet Saint Matthias.
SPEAKER_00: Poor Matthias, almost disappears in history.
SPEAKER_00: We know almost nothing about him.
SPEAKER_00: No famous miracles, no letters, no gospel with his name on it.
SPEAKER_00: And yet today the church celebrates him as an apostle.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Well, because holiness is not about fame, it's about fidelity.
SPEAKER_00: Notice the qualifications Peter gives for the next apostle, someone who stayed with Jesus from the beginning, someone who remains, someone who is faithful.
SPEAKER_00: Matthias teaches us something beautiful.
SPEAKER_00: You do not have to be famous to be indispensable in the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: Some of the holiest people in the world will never trend online.
SPEAKER_00: They will never have a statue in front of a church somewhere.
SPEAKER_00: They will never write books, never become celebrities, but they were always faithful.
SPEAKER_00: They prayed, they loved, they sacrificed, they endured.
SPEAKER_00: They quietly bore fruit that only heaven fully sees.
SPEAKER_00: And then the gospel today takes it even deeper.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says, It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you.
SPEAKER_00: That changes everything.
SPEAKER_00: Christianity is not ultimately about our search for God.
SPEAKER_00: It begins with God searching for us.
SPEAKER_00: Before we even prayed, he called you.
SPEAKER_00: Before you ever loved him, he loved you.
SPEAKER_00: Before you ever chose him, he chose you.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus says, I have called you friends.
SPEAKER_00: It's a powerful line.
SPEAKER_00: The creator of the universe calls us friends, not servants, not employees, not strangers, friends.
SPEAKER_00: But notice what Jesus says immediately before that.
SPEAKER_00: If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love.
SPEAKER_00: Real friendship with Christ is not sentimental, it is transformative.
SPEAKER_00: We live in a culture that often reduces love to emotion.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus connects love to obedience.
SPEAKER_00: If you love me, keep my commandments.
SPEAKER_00: Because love is proven not by words, but by fidelity.
SPEAKER_00: A husband proves his love by fidelity.
SPEAKER_00: A priest proves his love to his people by fidelity.
SPEAKER_00: A disciple proves love by fidelity.
SPEAKER_00: Because you see, anyone can be enthusiastic for five minutes.
SPEAKER_00: The saints are the ones who remain.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe that's the real lesson for us with Saint Matthias.
SPEAKER_00: Judas had the greater name, the greater visibility, the more dramatic story.
SPEAKER_00: But Matthias remained faithful.
SPEAKER_00: And in the end, history remembers Judas for betrayal, but heaven remembers Matthias for perseverance.
SPEAKER_00: That's the choice before every Christian life.
SPEAKER_00: So my brothers and sisters, it's not about whether we'll be famous, whether we did such great, huge things, whether we are admired or we are applause, we seek applause.
SPEAKER_00: It's whether we remain faithful to Christ at all cost.
SPEAKER_00: Remain with him faithful to the ever to the very end.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.