Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
From: Acts 1:15-17, 20-26
The Election of Matthias
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[15] In those days Peter stood up among the brethren (the company of persons was in all about a hundred and twenty), and said, [16] "Brethren, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David, concerning Judas who was guide to those who arrested Jesus. [17] For he was numbered among us, and was allotted his share in this ministry. [20] For it is written in the Book of Psalms, 'Let his habitation become desolate, and let there be no one to live in it'; and 'His office let another take.'
[21] So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, [22] beginning from the baptism of John until the day when He was taken up from us--one of these men must become with us a witness to His resurrection."
[23] And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. [24] And they prayed and said, "Lord, who knowest the hearts of all men, show which one of these two Thou hast chosen [25] to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside, to go to his own place." [26] And they had cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was enrolled with the eleven Apostles.
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Commentary:
15-23. "Peter is the ardent and impetuous Apostle to whom Christ entrusted the care of His flock; and since he is first in dignity, he is the first to speak" (Chrysostom, "Hom. on Acts", 3).
Here we see Peter performing his ministry. Events will make for the gradual manifestation of the supreme role of government which Christ entrusted to him. His is a ministry of service--he is the "servus servorum Dei", the servant of the servants of God--a ministry given to none other, different from all other ministries in the Church. Peter will carry it out in solidarity with his brothers in the Apostolate and in close contact with the whole Church represented here in the 120 brethren around him.
This account of Peter with the other Apostles and disciples all brought together is described by St. John Chrysostom in these words: "Observe the admirable prudence of St. Peter. He begins by quoting the authority of a prophet and does not say, 'My own word suffices,' so far is he from any thought of pride. But he seeks nothing less that the election of a 12th Apostle and he presses for this. His entire behavior shows the degree of his authority and that he understood the apostolic office of government not as a position of honor but as a commitment to watch over the spiritual health of those under him.
"The disciples were one hundred and twenty, and Peter asks for one of these. But he it is who proposes the election and exercises the principal authority because he has been entrusted with the care of all" ("Hom. on Acts", 3).
21-22. The Apostles are witnesses "par excellence" of Jesus' public life. The Church is "apostolic" because it relies on the solid testimony of people specially chosen to live with our Lord, witnessing His works and listening to His words. The twelve Apostles certify that Jesus of Nazareth and the risen Lord are one and the same person and that the words and actions of Jesus preserved and passed by the Church are indeed truly reported.
Everyone who maintains unity with the Pope and bishops in communion with him maintains unity with the Apostles and, through them, with Jesus Christ Himself. "Orthodox teaching has been conserved by being passed on successively since the time of the Apostles and so it has remained up to the present in all the churches. Therefore, only that teaching can be considered true which offers no discord with ecclesiastical and apostolic tradition" (Origen, "De Principiis", Preface, 2). See the note on Acts 1:26.
24-26. Verses 24-25 record the first prayer of the Church, which is linked with what we were told in verse 14--"all these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer"--and shows the disciples' firm belief that God rules over all things and all events and looks after the Church in a very special way.
The Christian community leaves in God's hands the choice as to who will fill the empty place in the Twelve. It does this by using traditional Hebrew method of casting lots, the outcome of which will reveal God's will. This method of divining God's will is to be found quite a number of times in the Old Testament (cf. 1 Samuel 14:41f); its use was restricted to Levites, to prevent it degenerating into a superstitious practice. In casting lots the Jews used dice, sticks, pieces of paper, etc. each bearing the name of the candidate for an office, or of people suspected of having committed some crime, etc. Lots were cast as often as necessary to fill the number of places to be filled or the suspected number of criminals.
In this instance they decide to cast lots because they consider that God has already made His choice and all that remains is for Him to make His will known: His decision can be ascertained unerringly by using this simple human device. This method of appointing people, borrowed from Judaism, did not continue to be used in the church for very long.
Now that Matthias has been appointed the Twelve is complete again. The Apostolic College is now ready to receive the Holy Spirit whom Jesus promised to send, and to go on to bear universal witness to the Good News.
26. St. Luke usually applies the term "apostles" only to the Twelve (cf., for example, Acts 6:6), or the Eleven plus Peter, who appears as head of the Apostolic College (cf. 2:14). Except in Acts 14:14, Luke never describes St. Paul as an Apostle--not because he minimizes Paul's role (indeed, half the chapters of Acts deal with Paul) but because he reserves to the Twelve the specific function of being witnesses to our Lord's life on earth.
This apostolic character or apostolicity is one of the marks of the true Church of Christ--a Church built, by the express wish of its Founder, on the solid basis of the Twelve.
The "St. Pius V Catechism" (I, 10, 17) teaches that "the true Church is also to be recognized from her origin, which can be traced back under the law of grace to the Apostles; for her doctrine is the truth not recently given, nor now first heard of, but delivered of old by the Apostles, and disseminated throughout the entire world. [...] That all, therefore, might know which was the Catholic Church, the Fathers, guided by the Spirit of God, added to the Creed the word 'apostolic'. For the Holy Spirit, who presides over the Church, governs her by no other ministers than those of apostolic succession. This Spirit, first imparted to the Apostles, has by the infinite goodness of God always continued in the Church."
The principal role of the Apostles is to be witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus (cf. 1:22). They perform it through the ministry of the word (6:4), which takes various forms, such as preaching to the people (cf. 2:14-40; 3:12-26; 4:2, 33; 5:20-21), teaching the disciples within the Christian community itself (2:42), and declarations uttered fearlessly against the enemies and persecutors of the Gospel of Jesus (4:5-31; 5;27-41). Like the word of the Lord, that of the Apostles is supported by signs and wonders, which render visible the salvation which they proclaim (2:14-21, 43; 3:1-11, 16; 4:8-12, 30; 5:12, 15-16; 9:31-43).
The Twelve also perform a role of government in the Church. When the members of the community at Jerusalem give up their property to help their brothers in need, they lay the money "at the Apostles' feet" (4:35). When the Hellenist Christians need to be reassured, the Twelve summon the assembly to establish the ministry of the diaconate (6:2). When Saul goes up to Jerusalem after his conversion, he is introduced to the Apostles by Barnabas (9:26-28). The Apostles quite evidently exercise an authority given them by our Lord who invested them with untransferable responsibilities and duties connected with service to the entire Church.
The Apostles also intervene outside Jerusalem as guarantors of internal and external unity, which is also an essential distinguishing mark of the Church. After Philip baptizes some Samaritans, the Apostles Peter and John travel from Jerusalem to give them the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands (8:14-17).
After the baptism of the pagan Cornelius, the Apostles study the situation with Peter, to ascertain more exactly the designs of God and the details of the new economy of salvation (11:1-18). Apropos of the debate in Antioch about the circumcision of baptized pagans, the community decides to consult the Apostles (15:2) to obtain a final decision on this delicate matter.
Most of St. Luke's attention is concentrated on the figure of Peter, whom he mentions 56 times in Acts. Peter is always the center of those scenes or episodes in which he appears with other Apostles or disciples. In matters to do with the community at Jerusalem Peter acts as the spokesman of the Twelve (2:14, 37; 5:29) and plays a key role in the opening up of the Gospel to pagans.
The College of the twelve Apostles, whose head is Peter, endures in the Episcopacy of the Church, whose head is the Pope, the bishop of Rome, successor of Peter and vicar of Jesus Christ. The Second Vatican Council proposes this once again when it teaches that the "Lord Jesus, having prayed at length to the Father, called to Himself those whom He willed and appointed twelve to be with Him, whom He might send to preach the Kingdom of God (cf. Mark 3:13-19; Matthew 10:1-42). These Apostles (cf. Luke 6:13) He constituted in the form of a college or permanent assembly, at the head of which He placed Peter, chosen from among them (cf. John 21:15-17)" ("Lumen Gentium", 19).
"Just as, in accordance with the Lord's decree, St. Peter and the rest of the Apostles constitute a unique apostolic college, so in like fashion the Roman Pontiff, Peter's successor, and the bishops, the successors of the Apostles, are related and united to one another. [...]
"In it the bishops, whilst loyally respecting the primacy and pre-eminence of their head, exercise their own proper authority for the good of their faithful, indeed even for the good of the whole Church, the organic structure and harmony of which are strengthened by the continued influence of the Holy Spirit. The supreme authority over the whole Church, which this college possesses, is exercised in a solemn way in an ecumenical council. [...] And it is the prerogative of the Roman Pontiff to convoke such councils, to preside over them and to confirm them" ("ibid.", 22).
The Vine and the Branches (Continuation)
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(Jesus said to His disciples,) [9] "As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you; abide in My love. [10] If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. [11] These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
The Law of Love
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[12] "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. [13] Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. [14] You are My friends if you do what I command you. [15] No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. [16] You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give it to you. [17] This I command you, to love one another."
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Commentary:
9-11. Christ's love for Christians is a reflection of the love the Three Divine Persons have for one another and for all men: "We love, because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19).
The certainty that God loves us is the source of Christian joy (verse 11), but it is also something which calls for a fruitful response on our part, which should take the form of a fervent desire to do God's will in everything, that is, to keep His commandments, in imitation of Jesus Christ, who did the will of His Father (cf. John 4:34).
12-15. Jesus insists on the "new commandment", which He Himself keeps by giving His life for us. See note on John 13:34-35.
Christ's friendship with the Christian, which our Lord expresses in a very special way in this passage, is something very evident in [St] Monsignor Escriva de Balaguer's preaching: "The life of the Christian who decides to behave in accordance with the greatness of his vocation is so to speak a prolonged echo of those words of our Lord, `No longer do I call you My servants; a servant is one who does not understand what his master is about, whereas I have made known to you all that My Father has told Me; and so I have called you My friends' (John 15:15). When we decide to be docile and follow the will of God, hitherto unimagined horizons open up before us.... `There is nothing better than to recognize that Love has made us slaves of God. From the moment we recognize this we cease being slaves and become friends, sons' (St J. Escriva, "Friends of God", 35).
"Sons of God, FRIENDS OF GOD.... Jesus is truly God and truly Man, He is our Brother and our Friend. If we make the effort to get to know Him well `we will share in the joy of being God's friends' ["ibid.", 300]. If we do all we can to keep Him company, from Bethlehem to Calvary, sharing His joys and sufferings, we will become worthy of entering into loving conversation with Him. As the Liturgy of the Hours sings, "calicem Domini biberunt, et amici Dei facti sunt" (they drank the chalice of the Lord and so became friends of God).
"Being His children and His friends are two inseparable realities for those who love God. We go to Him as children, carrying on a trusting dialogue that should fill the whole of our lives; and we go to Him as friends.... In the same way our divine sonship urges us to translate the overflow of our interior life into apostolic activity, just as our friendship with God leads us to place ourselves at `the service of all men. We are called to use the gifts God has given us as instruments to help others discover Christ' ["ibid.", 258]" (Monsignor A. del Portillo in his preface to St J. Escriva's, "Friends of God").
16. There are three ideas contained in these words of our Lord. One, that the calling which the Apostles received and which every Christian also receives does not originate in the individual's good desires but in Christ's free choice. It was not the Apostles who chose the Lord as Master, in the way someone would go about choosing a rabbi; it was Christ who chose them. The second idea is that the Apostles' mission and the mission of every Christian is to follow Christ, to seek holiness and to contribute to the spread of the Gospel. The third teaching refers to the effectiveness of prayer done in the name of Christ; which is why the Church usually ends the prayers of the liturgy with the invocation "Through Jesus Christ our Lord...".
The three ideas are all interconnected: prayer is necessary if the Christian life is to prove fruitful, for it is God who gives the growth (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:7); and the obligation to seek holiness and to be apostolic derives from the fact that it is Christ Himself who has given us this mission. "Bear in mind, son, that you are not just a soul who has joined other souls in order to do a good thing.
"That is a lot, but it's still little. You are the Apostle who is carrying out an imperative command from Christ" (St J. Escriva, "The Way", 942).
Source: Daily Word for Reflection—Navarre Bible Commentary