Homily – October 28, 2009 – Sts. Simon and Jude

+ St. Jude, also known as Thaddaeus, was a brother of St. James the Less, and therefore a relative – a cousin – of Jesus – to some degree. He was one of the twelve Apostles of Jesus. Ancient writers tell us that he preached the Gospel in Judea, Samaria, Idumaea, Syria, Mesopotamia and Lybia. According to the writer Eusebius, Jude returned to Jerusalem in the year 62 and assisted at the election of another brother of his, St. Simon, as Bishop of Jerusalem. Jude was the one who asked Jesus at the Last Supper why He wound not manifest Himself to the whole world after his resurrection. Jude and Simon were martyred together on the same day in Persia. Jude is invoked in desperate situations because his New Testament letter stresses that the faithful should persevere in the environment of harsh, difficult circumstances, just as their forefathers had done before them. Therefore, he is the patron saint of desperate cases. St. Simon was called the Zealot for his rigid adherence to the Jewish law. He was one of the twelve and suffered martyrdom with Jude in Persia.

The first reading today reminds us that because of our baptism and our incorporation into the Body of Christ – we are no longer strangers and sojourners – wandering around aimlessly in the world; we are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles (including Simon and Jude) and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. This is an amazing reality! We all fit together and are held together as a temple sacred to the Lord: made of living, breathing, spiritual stones: us: a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

As Jesus chose the twelve to initiate the telling of this marvelous story of salvation, redemption and new life – so may we each today respond to his call to spread the same message to all we meet. We all exist in God; and when we acknowledge and celebrate it, he can manifest himself and express himself more really in us on behalf of others! We become transparent for him to minister to others using us! Not a bad way to spend the day!

We thank you St. Jude for hearing and attending to the prayers we place before you to present to God. We thank you for the ones that have been answered as we would have liked them to have been; we thank you for the ones that were answered in different ways that we might have asked for; we thank you for the answers that are still forthcoming: we know that in his way and in his time God will answer them for the very best of all involved.

We praise you, O God,

we acclaim you as Lord;

the glorious company of Apostles praise you!