This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.
There is something very human and beautiful about the casualness of the books of the New Testament, at times. They sometimes relate facts in an almost off-handed way, as a journalist might relay the facts of a local event. And when events are reported in two books in entirely different ways and contexts, but the essential facts line up well, there is a special flavor of authenticity and credibility surrounding those facts.
In today’s first reading, the author refers summarily, by way of context, to the betrayal of Judas, which is spelled out with more drama in the gospels. Similarly, the events associated with Jesus’s public ministry are touched upon in a cursory manner, such as the baptism of John and even the Ascension, when Jesus was “taken up from us.” The most incredible events of all human history are cited merely by way of historical context, as the apostles seek to choose a successor to Judas who has been with them throughout Jesus’ public ministry.
And then today’s gospel brings us right into the dramatic heart of the salvific events of Jesus’ life, alluded to in such a passing manner in the first reading from Acts. Jesus is at the climax of His life on Holy Thursday, and He is passing on His Commandment to His apostles–that they love one another.
Both realities are beautiful: The poetic, almost ethereal reality of Jesus’ life, whereby His mystical teachings and love exalt the hearer above the level of the mundane; and the fact that even at those moments, Jesus’s life itself was entirely mundane, entirely human, lending itself to summary in the simplest of terms.
Today we commemorate the introduction of St. Matthias into the company of the apostles. This glorious combination of mundane and transcendent becomes his reality forever with that event, and his life would never be the same.
How do we live this combination in our own lives? Is our daily contemplative prayer life so vibrant that we live with our hearts in the subtext of eternal salvation–and yet, our commitment to live our human lives responsibly so practical, that we make solid choices about even the simplest aspects of our daily duty?
Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus, through the Eucharist, to transform your heart into a heart just like His: In love with God, and in love with humanity; in love with eternity, but also in love with the time within which you can help others to reach eternity.
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