Resend: Gospel Reflection for The 14th day of May in the year of Our Lord, 2026

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The Ascension of the Lord - Feast of Saint Matthias

John 15:9-17

9 As the Father hath loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; as I also have kept my Father’s commandments, and do abide in his love.

11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be filled. 12 This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you. 13 Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends, if you do the things that I command you. 15 I will not now call you servants: for the servant knoweth not what his lord doth. But I have called you friends: because all things whatsoever I have heard of my Father, I have made known to you.

16 You have not chosen me: but I have chosen you; and have appointed you, that you should go, and should bring forth fruit; and your fruit should remain: that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. 17 These things I command you, that you love one another.

Being the feast of Saint Matthias, I want to focus on today’s first reading:

Acts 1:15-17, 20-26

Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers and sisters

(there was a group of about one hundred and twenty persons

in the one place).

He said, “My brothers and sisters,

the Scripture had to be fulfilled

which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand

through the mouth of David, concerning Judas,

who was the guide for those who arrested Jesus.

Judas was numbered among us

and was allotted a share in this ministry.

For it is written in the Book of Psalms:

Let his encampment become desolate,

and may no one dwell in it.

and:

May another take his office.

Therefore, it is necessary that one of the men

who accompanied us the whole time

the Lord Jesus came and went among us,

beginning from the baptism of John

until the day on which he was taken up from us,

become with us a witness to his resurrection.”

So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas,

who was also known as Justus, and Matthias.

Then they prayed,

“You, Lord, who know the hearts of all,

show which one of these two you have chosen

to take the place in this apostolic ministry

from which Judas turned away to go to his own place.”

Then they gave lots to them, and the lot fell upon Matthias,

and he was counted with the Eleven Apostles.

Recently, I had a respectful debate with a Baptist regarding the Holy Apostles. Fortunately, having spent much of my youth attending a Baptist church and having attended a Baptist university, I understood the difference in our doctrine and as able to answer his questions using passages from the Bible. This was one. You see, the doctrine of his denomination is that anyone can pick up the Bible, read it, and be guided into full understanding by the Holy Spirit. Then, if a person “feels called” he may preach to others with the full authority of the Holy Apostles. Of course, nowhere does the Bible say this. It actually says the opposite, such as:

The Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go up and join that chariot.’ When Philip ran up, he heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ He replied, ‘How could I, unless I have someone to guide me?’ So he urged Philip to get in and sit by his side. Now the passage of scripture he was reading was this: Like a lamb led to the slaughter-house, like a sheep dumb in front of its shearers, he never opens his mouth. In his humiliation fair judgment was denied him. Who will ever talk about his descendants, since his life on earth has been cut short? The eunuch addressed Philip and said, ‘Tell me, is the prophet referring to himself or someone else?’ Starting, therefore, with this text of scripture Philip proceeded to explain the good news of Jesus to him.

It was a very foreign concept to him, that Jesus specifically chose 12 men to teach in His name and gave to them His authority, and only 12 men. So, I quoted today’s first reading that shows that to be an Apostle was to fulfill a specific office. He tried to parse words with various translations, but eventually he had to admit that Jesus did create the Apostolic office and that none other held such authority. Then he said, “I see your point on the Apostles, but surely anyone can be a disciple.” And, in a way this is true. But, we must remember that out of hundreds or thousands of Jesus’ followers, He only chose 70 to whom He gave the power to teach, cast out demons, etc. So, not all who believed in Jesus were disciples. In our time, a faithful Christian should strive to be a disciple of Christ, but still only a few will be given authority like the disciples in the Bible. That authority is given to them through the Apostolic authority of the Catholic Church.

In truth, no one has the right to bear the title of Apostle or disciple unless it is granted to them by the only institution on earth to which Jesus gave His authority. That is the same Catholic Church that, ensured by the Holy Spirit, made Saint Matthias an Apostle. Through this power of Apostolic succession, the Church ordains priests, authorizes religious orders, deacons and teachers, etc. Christianity is an organized hierarchy, as intended and established by Christ. The disorganized chaos of up to 50,000 Protestant denominations, each of which disagrees with the other on the doctrines they claim to have learned from the same Bible, and all of which disagree with the Catholic Church, is absolutely not what Jesus intended. He prayed that all Christians may be “one”, with the same doctrine, the same understanding and members of the same Holy Catholic Church. Nowhere did Jesus say, “Go found your own church and call yourself Apostle Bob.” But, that is the foundation of Protestantism, and why it will always be opposed to Jesus and the Church that He founded.

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Judson Carroll is the author of several books, including his newest, A Daily Catholic Devotional, Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings July - December, 2026 It is Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GRGY1D15

A Daily Catholic Devotional, Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings January - June, 2026 It is also available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GDK16N45

and

Confirmation, an Autobiography of Faith: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47Q1JNK

His podcast is The Uncensored Catholic https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-uncensored-catholic