Simon & Jude

Thursday, 28 October 2010

Sts. Simon and Jude, apostles - Feast

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SAINTS SIMON AND JUDE
Apostles
(Feast)

         The name of Saint Simon usually appears eleventh in the list of the apostles. Nothing is known of him except that he was born at Cana and is surnamed "The Zealot".
         Saint Jude, also called Thaddeus, was the apostle who asked the Lord at the Last Supper why he has manifested himself only to his disciples and not to the whole world (John 12:22).

Christian Prayer : The Liturgy of the Hours - Daughters of St. Paul * St. Paul Editions * 1976

Commentary of the day :

Pope Benedict XVI
General audience 11/10/2006 (coyright Libreria vaticana editrice)

Unity of the Twelve, unity of the Church

Today, let us examine two of the Twelve Apostles: Simon the Cananaean and Jude Thaddaeus (not to be confused with Judas Iscariot). Let us look at them together, not only because they are always placed next to each other in the lists of the Twelve (cf. Mt 10: 3, 4; Mk 3: 18; Lk 6: 15; Acts 1: 13), but also because there is very little information about them, apart from the fact that the New Testament Canon preserves one Letter attributed to Jude Thaddaeus.


Simon is given a nickname that varies in the four lists: while Matthew and Mark describe him as a "Cananaean", Luke instead describes him as a "Zealot". In fact, the two descriptions are equivalent because they mean the same thing: indeed, in Hebrew the verb qanà' means "to be jealous, ardent"... Thus, it is highly likely that even if this Simon was not exactly a member of the nationalist movement of Zealots, he was at least marked by passionate attachment to his Jewish identity, hence, for God, his People and divine Law. If this was the case, Simon was worlds apart from Matthew, who, on the contrary, had an activity behind him as a tax collector that was frowned upon as entirely impure. This shows that Jesus called his disciples and collaborators, without exception, from the most varied social and religious backgrounds. It was people who interested him, not social classes or labels!

And the best thing is that in the group of his followers, despite their differences, they all lived side by side, overcoming imaginable difficulties: indeed, what bound them together was Jesus himself, in whom they all found themselves united with one another. This clearly constitutes a lesson for us who are often inclined to accentuate differences and even contrasts, forgetting that in Jesus Christ we are given the strength to get the better of our continual conflicts. Let us also bear in mind that the group of the Twelve is the prefiguration of the Church, where there must be room for all charisms, peoples and races, all human qualities that find their composition and unity in communion with Jesus. 

Mass

Letter to the Ephesians 2:19-22.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 6:12-19.

Introduction: Fr. S…,

In the Gospel St Luke records that prior to Jesus’ selection of the twelve, He spent the entire night in prayer so that according to the will and wisdom of the Father, He may choose the twelve disciples who would carry on his mission later.

Today we celebrate the feast of two apostles, Simon and Jude. We call them Apostles. What is the real meaning of an apostle? This is the definition of an apostle: a witness to the resurrection. In Act 1:21-22, we read that after the death of Judas Peter called the apostles together and told them to choose someone who has been with them from the time of John baptizing until the day Jesus was taken up to heaven so that he can act with them as a witness to Jesus’ resurrection. Apostle means to give witness to the resurrection of Jesus. This is heart of the apostolate. The mystery of the resurrection is the central to our faith. It is the core of the Gospel. In the first Century the Christians grew more in numbers because of the witnessing power of the risen Christ in apostles’ works and deeds by way of performing miracles.

We are called to be apostles of Christ. We pray that we may grow in the faith of the powerful presence of the risen Christ, thus making Christianity more meaningful, attractive and vibrant to the people.