RBWords

     Jesus had many disciples but only twelve "apostles."  Notice that the room in the scene from today's first scripture is filled with 120 people (a multiple of twelve?).  There appears to be some urgency that a twelfth person be chosen.  Since Jesus had promised (Luke 22:28) that the apostles would, in the "kingdom," sit on thrones judging the "twelve tribes of Israel," there may have been a consciousness of the importance of the number twelve as a continuity or a New Israel.  However it could not be just anybody.  The criteria are set forth in the quote above.  It had to be someone who already had done what the apostles had done - accompanied Jesus from the very beginning.  The comes the part that might give the Vatican authorities a bit of worry.  They picked two men who met the criteria and then essentially flippped a coin!  Matthias won the flip and promptly disappears from Luke's story!  We don't know anything else about him!

     Matthias became part of a "collective" idea that remains important when we profess our faith in "one, holy, catholic and APOSTOLIC church."  The number twelve was important only to that group since they clearly appointed others.  There are thousands of "successors of the apostles," which we call "bishops."  Their job is to ensure the continuity of the faith.  We may not know their names (although we might be able to name the original twelve) or care how they were chosen (even though that is becoming an issue), but we should care that there is a kind of apostolic succession that keeps us as close as possible, 2000 years later, to Jesus' own ministry and teachings.  The current "successors" are no more perfect than the original twelve, but they're what we have, along with the Holy Spirit, to keep us close.  AMEN