…It has been written in the Book of Psalms:
Let his house become a wilderness
And let there be no one who lives in it1
and
Let another take his place2
Therefore it is necessary
for one of the men
who having been together with us
in all the times
in which the Lord Jesus came
and went
among us
beginning with the baptism of John
until the day
in which he was taken up from us
must become
with us
a witness of his resurrection.’
And they proposed two :
Joseph called Bar-Sabbas, who was called Justus and
Matthias.
And they prayed:
‘You Lord,
all-knowing of hearts
show clearly
which one you have chosen
from these two
to take the place
of this ministry (which is) apostleship
from which Judas turned away
to go to his own place.’
And they cast lots for them
and the lot fell on Matthias
and he was included with the eleven apostles.
Thank you, dear Jesus,
for all you have given me,
for all you have taken away from me,
for all you have left me.
Thomas More (c.1478-1535)