Jesus refreshes you with the promises of the gospel, wrapped in the words of Scripture, drawn in the pictures of the sacraments.
Today we celebrate the Festival of St. Matthias, the Apostle. What do you know about him? He’s probably one of the apostles you know very little about. Matthias was the man chosen to take Judas Iscariot’s place among the apostles of Jesus. Acts tells us Matthias was one of two men who had been with the disciples the whole time of Jesus’ ministry: from John’s baptism until Jesus ascended into heaven. That meant he had also witnessed Jesus’ resurrection. The final choice between Matthias and the other man was determined by lot. They prayed for the Lord to guide the choice, and the lot fell to Matthias, who then became an apostle.
History outside of Scripture tells us very little with certainty about this apostle. Some fathers say he spent time preaching in Judea. The Greek fathers say he was active in Cappadocia in what is now Turkey, moving toward the Caspian Sea. Others put him near the Black Sea, working among cannibals in Georgia and moving toward Russia. Accounts of his death are also varied and contradictory: stoned then beheaded (for good measure) or perhaps crucified, or even dead of old age. Even his burial site is contested: the East says he lies in Georgia; the West says Trier, which would make him the only Apostle buried north of the Alps.
So what do we take away from St. Matthias when we know so little? Matthias was a faithful follower of Jesus until the call to apostleship came. He accepted that yoke and lived out his new calling. Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:29). But Jesus did not just speak these words to those he called to be apostles; he speaks them to every faithful Christian. Matthias understood that promise under the yoke of apostleship but also under the yoke of a Christian’s cross.
Jesus knows the challenge of your cross, your burdens, your weariness, your struggle. He cares, he who is “gentle and humble in heart.” He has never failed to keep a promise, and he won’t fail to keep this one. Jesus will be your constant companion as you share his yoke. Under the crosses you bear as Jesus’ follower, you learn from him. You see how he accepted his Father’s will, how he trusted his Father’s promises, how he leaned on his Father for strength in his weakness, how he bore the greatest burden of all: the sin of the world, including yours and mine.
Temptations, burdens, and crosses will always be a part of life in this world. But Jesus promised, “I will give you rest!” The rest Jesus promises you here is refreshment, not the end of struggle. Jesus refreshes you with the promises of the gospel, wrapped in the words of Scripture, drawn in the pictures of the sacraments. His refreshment gives you the strength to pick up your load and fight the battles you face anew. He will not let you fall.
Both as a faithful Christian and as an apostle, St. Matthias knew the yoke and the promise of Jesus. The labor and load do not disappear in this life; they become light because the yoke you bear belongs to Jesus and the burden is his. Carry it; endure with him as he walks by your side. You share the road with him who loved you all the way to his cross. That road ends in the eternal rest Jesus won for you!
We read Matthew 11:25-30:
At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.
“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
