Last week we looked at the life of St. Matthias from the Bible, tradition, and Church history. St. Matthias replaced Judas Iscariot as the 12th Apostle after Jesus had ascended into Heaven and before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 1:12-26). In addition to what we know of his life and ministry, St. Matthias left some writings.
We know of a “Gospel of Matthias,” but it
either hasn’t survived, or has not yet been identified. The book is mentioned
by Origen, St. Eusebius, St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, and St. Bede. It also appears
in two list of books from the 6th and 7th Centuries. It may be apocryphal,
written by another using Matthias’ name; but we don’t know.
Then there is a book called, “Traditions
of Matthias.” Although the full text has been lost to history, St. Clement of
Alexandria (AD 150-211/216), writing circa AD 210, gives us three quotes from
what probably was original with the Apostle St. Matthias. The following three
quotes from St. Clement are the only words which have come down to us.
The second saying of St. Matthias which
St. Clement preserves for us is from “Stromateis,” III 4.26.3, II 208.7-9,
where Clement says: “For in obedience to the Savior's command ... [a man has]
no wish to serve two masters: pleasure and [the] Lord. It is believed that
Matthias also taught this, that we must fight against the flesh and treat it
with contempt, never yielding to it for pleasure's sake, but must nourish the
soul through faith and knowledge.” (The same is quoted in St. Eusebius’
“Historia Ecclesiastica,” III.29.4.) This sounds more of a paraphrase or
summary of St. Matthias’ teaching about mankind’s ancient struggle ever since
the Fall of not giving in to the temptations of the disordered flesh, to the
seeking of pleasure for its own sake. Disordered pleasures, sought for
themselves, always lead to sin, and to disappointment because the more we get
the more we want and we can never be satisfied. How to break free? St. Matthias
says we should fight against disordered pleasures and instead focus on
nourishing the soul through faith and knowledge. Faith exercises our belief and
acts on it; knowledge feeds our understanding, grows into wisdom, and brings
the truths of the Christian Faith home to our hearts and life.
This third saying St. Clement has preserved for us is one which might lead many of us to an examination of conscience: do I really live my Christian Faith daily? Here’s what St. Clement has from “Stromateis,” VII 13.82.1, “They say that Matthias, the Apostle, in the ‘Traditions’ explains at every turn: 'If the neighbor of one of the chosen [a Christian] sins, then has the elect [that Christian] sinned; for if he had so conducted himself as the Word commends, the neighbor would have had such awe at his way of life that he would not have fallen into sin.’” Do we sin by omission by our not being faithful to the Gospel, and so participate in the sins of others by our bad example? A tough saying, but perceptive insight, from St. Matthias, the 12th Apostle.
Dibby Allan Green