Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, apostles
(Ephesians 2:19-22; Luke 6:12-16)
In the Gospel of Luke at every important juncture Jesus stops
his activity to pray. Presumably he asks
for the grace to do what is best for all.
Today’s gospel is no exception. Jesus
prays before choosing twelve of his disciples to be apostles. These men will not only pick up his baton of
preaching the Kingdom of God but also become the foundation of his global church
community.
Today we honor two lesser known apostles. Although St. Jude has enormous popularity
because of his association with “hopeless causes,” virtually nothing of his
personal life is known with certainty.
Sometimes he is associated with Jude, the “brother of the Lord” or with
the author of the New Testament “Letter of Jude.” But these links are uncertain as Jude was a much
used name in first century Judaism.
Of Simon perhaps less is known. Considered a zealot, he represents an
ideological wing of the apostles. He
would probably urge Jesus to bring about the Kingdom of God with all haste. Our lack of knowledge of his and St. Jude’s
life should not deter us from praying to them as well as to Jesus and the
Father. The apostles’ closeness to Jesus
and their winning his favor through martyrdom instill confidence that our
needs, hopeless or not, will be met.
