+ We celebrate the feast of two apostles today: Simon and Jude.
Simon was called the Cananean,
and the Zealot because of his zeal for the Jewish law, but was neither from
Cana nor a member of the Zealot Party. Like all the apostles he was a convert,
he being trained by St. Peter, the Apostle. He evangelized at least in Egypt
and Mesopotamia, if not other places. He was a martyr for the faith but there
are differences of opinion as to where that took place.
Jude was son of Cleophas, a
cousin of Mary who stood with her at the foot of the Cross of Christ, and who
anointed Christ’s body after his death. He is the brother of St. James the
Lesser. Being a cousin of Jesus, Jude was reported to have looked a lot like
him. He may have been a fisherman before he was called to be an apostle. Jude
wrote the canonical Epistle named for him. He preached in Syria, Mesopotamia
and Persia with St Simon. He was a healer and an exorcist. He could exorcise
pagan idols, which caused the demons to flee and the statues to crumble. His
patronage of lost or impossible causes traditionally derives from confusion by
many early Christians between Jude and the traitor Judas Iscariot; not
understanding the difference between the names, they never prayed for Jude’s
help, and devotion to him became something of a “lost cause.”
It
is important for us to remember that the very existence of our faith and our
religion today stands firmly on the faith and faithfulness of the twelve chosen
by Jesus and their unfailing commitment to remain close friends of his, doing
what he asked them to do, evangelically,
especially in the face of certain death. We too are called to live our
lives and give our lives as intimate friends of Christ – for the spiritual and
even physical welfare of others.
Strengthened by this
Eucharistic meal – as were Simon and Jude – may we be willing to bring the
gospel message to everyone we meet today, one way or another!
Their
message goes out to all the earth.
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