OCTOBER 28, 2013 : FEAST OF SAINTS SIMON AND JUDE, APOSTLES

Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles 
Lectionary: 666

Reading 1EPH 2:19-22

Brothers and sisters:
You are no longer strangers and sojourners,
but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones
and members of the household of God,
built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets,
with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.
Through him the whole structure is held together
and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord;
in him you also are being built together
into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Responsorial PsalmPS 19:2-3, 4-5

R. (5a) Their message goes out through all the earth.
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day pours out the word to day,
and night to night imparts knowledge.
R. Their message goes out through all the earth.
Not a word nor a discourse
whose voice is not heard;
Through all the earth their voice resounds,
and to the ends of the world, their message.
R. Their message goes out through all the earth.

GospelLK 6:12-16

Jesus went up to the mountain to pray,
and he spent the night in prayer to God.
When day came, he called his disciples to himself,
and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles:
Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew,
James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew,
Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus,
Simon who was called a Zealot,
and Judas the son of James,
and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

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Meditation: Jesus chose twelve apostles

 What is God's call on your life? When Jesus embarked on his mission he chose twelve men to be his friends and apostles. In the choice of the twelve, we see a characteristic feature of God's work: Jesus chose very ordinary people. They were non-professionals, who had no wealth or position. They were chosen from the common people who did ordinary things, had no special education, and no social advantages. Jesus wanted ordinary people who could take an assignment and do it extraordinarily well. He chose these men, not for what they were, but for what they would be capable of becoming under his direction and power. When the Lord calls us to serve, we must not shrug back because we think that we have little or nothing to offer. The Lord takes what ordinary people, like us, can offer and uses it for greatness in his kingdom. Is there anything holding you back from giving yourself unreservedly to God?
Wherever Jesus went the people came to him because they had heard all the things he did. They were hungry for God and desired healing from their afflictions. In faith they pressed upon Jesus to touch him. As they did so power came from Jesus and they were healed. Even demons trembled in the presence of Jesus and left at his rebuke. Jesus offers freedom from the power of sin and oppression to all who seek him with expectant faith. When you hear God's word and consider all that Jesus did, how do you respond? With doubt or with expectant faith? With skepticism or with confident trust? Ask the Lord to increase your faith in his saving power and grace.
"Lord Jesus Christ, you are the Son of God and the Savior of the world. Inflame my heart with a burning love for you and with an expectant faith in your saving power. Take my life and all that I have as an offering of love for you, who are my All."
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MONDAY, OCTOBER 28, LUKE 6:12-16
(Ephesians 2:19-22; Psalm 19)

KEY VERSE: "He called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also called apostles" (v 14).
READING: Jesus spent the night in prayer before choosing twelve individuals to whom he would entrust the leadership of the Church. Only Luke said that Jesus bestowed the title of "apostle" on those whom he chose. The word "apostle" means one sent to speak and act in the name of Jesus Christ to proclaim the message of the gospel. Similar to the twelve founders of the old covenant, these twelve apostles would form the foundation of the new covenant. The Twelve were eye-witnesses to the ministry of Jesus from the time of his baptism to his ascension, which guaranteed continuity and faithfulness to his teaching (Luke 1:1-4). Following Jesus' death, Peter, who always heads the list of apostles, stated the need to restore the number of the apostles to the full Twelve (Acts 1:15-26). After Pentecost, the term "apostle" had a wider application than just the Twelve (1 Cor 1:1, 9:1, 15:5-9). They were, like Paul, ambassadors of Christ given authority of pastoral service over the communities. The episcopacy (Office of Bishop) traces its succession to the authority Jesus conferred on the first apostles. The twelve are mirrors of ourselves, flawed but graced human beings.
REFLECTING: Do I hand on the faith that I have received as the apostles did in their time?
PRAYING: Saints Simon and Jude, pray for me that I might imitate your heroic examples.

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FEAST OF SIMON AND JUDE, APOSTLES

The names of Sts. Simon and Jude occur together in the Canon of the Mass and are celebrated on the same day. Tradition holds that they both preached the Gospel in Mesopotamia and Persia where it is said they had been sent. But in fact we know nothing for certain about them beyond what is told us of their being called as Apostles in the New Testament. St. Simon is called the Zealot because of his association with the Jewish independence movement devoted to assassination and violent insurrection described by the Jewish historian Josephus. It is said that he preached in all of the lands of the then known world. Supposedly his body was sawed to pieces, hence his usual attribute is a saw. Jude was also known as Judas or Thaddaeus meaning "Courageous" (He was not the Judas who betrayed Jesus). He was the brother of James the Less and a cousin of Jesus. Jude the Apostle is believed to have preached in Judea, Samaria, Syria, and Mesopotamia. In some instances he may be shown with a scroll or a book (Jude is the disputed author of a short epistle in the New Testament). It has been speculated that Jude carried the burial shroud of Jesus to King Abgar of Edessa (Turkey). It is said that when Jude opened the image to cure the king of his illness both Jude and the image became radiant with light; hence the traditional flame on St. Jude’s forehead. According to traditional accounts, Jude was beaten to death with a club, then beheaded in Persia. He is the patron saint of those suffering from desperate cases, and of serious illnesses such as cancer.
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 Their message goes out through all the earth.

Jesus chooses his twelve apostles.
In today’s gospel reading, Luke relates how Jesus chose his twelve apostles from among his disciples, following a night of prayer to his Father. This was a ‘Be in this with me, Father’ form of prayer much used by Jesus. Having chosen his apostles, Jesus joined his disciples and a large crowd of people from many parts of the country. These people had come to hear Jesus and to seek his curing powers. In today’s first reading, Paul tells the Ephesians that the church is God’s Temple and that the Gentiles are built into it. It is a unified church built on the foundation that the prophets and the apostles have laid, with Jesus Christ as main cornerstone and them as part of the building. Lord, we pray for a unified Christian Church. 
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October 28
Sts. Simon and Jude

Jude is so named by Luke and Acts. Matthew and Mark call him Thaddeus. He is not mentioned elsewhere in the Gospels, except, of course, where all the apostles are mentioned. Scholars hold that he is not the author of the Letter of Jude. Actually, Jude had the same name as Judas Iscariot. Evidently because of the disgrace of that name, it was shortened to "Jude" in English.

Simon is mentioned on all four lists of the apostles. On two of them he is called "the Zealot." The Zealots were a Jewish sect that represented an extreme of Jewish nationalism. For them, the messianic promise of the Old Testament meant that the Jews were to be a free and independent nation. God alone was their king, and any payment of taxes to the Romans—the very domination of the Romans—was a blasphemy against God. No doubt some of the Zealots were the spiritual heirs of the Maccabees, carrying on their ideals of religion and independence. But many were the counterparts of modern terrorists. They raided and killed, attacking both foreigners and "collaborating" Jews. They were chiefly responsible for the rebellion against Rome which ended in the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

Comment:

As in the case of all the apostles except for Peter, James and John, we are faced with men who are really unknown, and we are struck by the fact that their holiness is simply taken to be a gift of Christ. He chose some unlikely people: a former Zealot, a former (crooked) tax collector, an impetuous fisherman, two "sons of thunder" and a man named Judas Iscariot.

It is a reminder that we cannot receive too often. Holiness does not depend on human merit, culture, personality, effort or achievement. It is entirely God's creation and gift. God needs no Zealots to bring about the kingdom by force. Jude, like all the saints, is the saint of the impossible: Only God can create his divine life in human beings. And God wills to do so, for all of us.

Quote:

"Just as Christ was sent by the Father, so also he sent the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit. This he did so that, by preaching the gospel to every creature (cf. Mark 16:15), they might proclaim that the Son of God, by his death and resurrection, had freed us from the power of Satan (cf. Acts 26:18) and from death, and brought us into the kingdom of his Father" (Vatican II, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy).

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LECTIO: SAINTS SIMON AND JUDE, APOSTLES - LUKE 6,12-19

Lectio: 

 Monday, October 28, 2013  

Ordinary Time

1) Opening prayer

Almighty and ever-living God,

strengthen our faith, hope and love.

May we do with loving hearts

what you ask of us

and come to share the life you promise.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

2) Gospel Reading - Luke 6,12-19

Now it happened in those days that Jesus went onto the mountain to pray; and he spent the whole night in prayer to God.

When day came he summoned his disciples and picked out twelve of them; he called them 'apostles': Simon whom he called Peter, and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot who became a traitor.

He then came down with them and stopped at a piece of level ground where there was a large gathering of his disciples, with a great crowd of people from all parts of Judaea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon who had come to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. People tormented by unclean spirits were also cured, and everyone in the crowd was trying to touch him because power came out of him that cured them all.

3) Reflection

• Today the Gospel speaks about two facts: (a) to describe the choice of the twelve Apostles (Lk 6, 12-16) and (b) it informs that an immense crowd wanted to meet Jesus to listen to him, to touch him and to be cured (Lk 6, 17-19).

• Luke 6, 12-13: Jesus spends the night in prayer and chooses the twelve apostles. Before the definitive choice of the twelve Apostles, Jesus goes up to the mountain and there spends the whole night in prayer. He prays in order to know whom to choose and he chooses the Twelve, whose names are given in the Gospels. And then they received the title of Apostles. Apostle means one sent, missionary. They were called to carry out a mission, the same mission that Jesus received from the Father (Jn 20, 21). Mark concretizes the mission and says that Jesus called them to be with him and to send them out on mission (Mk 3, 14).

• Luke 6, 14-16: The names of the twelve Apostles. With little differences the names of the Twelve are the same in the Gospels of Matthew (Mt 10, 2-4), Mark (Mk 3, 16-19) and Luke (Lk 6, 14-16). Many of these names come from the Old Testament: Simon is the name of one of the sons of the Patriarch Jacob (Gn 29, 33). James (Giacomo) is the same name as Jacob (Gn 25, 26). Judas is the name of the other son of Jacob (Gn 35, 23). Matthew even if he had the name of Levi (Mk 2, 14), the other son of Jacob (Gn 35, 23). Of the twelve Apostles, seven have the name which comes from the time of the Patriarchs: two times Simon, two times James, two times Judas, and one time Levi! That reveals the wisdom of the pedagogy of the people. By the names of the Patriarchs and the ‘Matriarchs’, given to the sons and daughters, people maintained alive the tradition of the ancients and helped their own children not to lose their identity. Which are the names that we give today to our sons and daughters?

• Luke 6,17-19: Jesus comes down from the mountain and people look for him. Coming down from the mountain with the twelve, Jesus encounters an immense crowd of people who was seeking to listen to his word and to touch him because they knew that from him came out a force of life. In this great crowd there were Jews and foreigners, people from Judaea and also from Tyre and Sidon. They were people who were abandoned, disoriented. Jesus accepts all those who seek him, Jews and Pagans! This is one of the themes preferred by Luke who writes for the converted Pagans.

• The persons called by Jesus are a consolation for us. The first Christians remembered and recorded the names of the Twelve Apostles and of the other men and women who followed Jesus closely. The Twelve, called by Jesus to form the first community with him, were not saints. They were common persons, like all of us. They had their virtues and their defects. The Gospels tell us very little about the temperament and the character of each one of them. But what they say, even if it is not much is a reason of consolation for us.

- Peter was a generous person and full of enthusiasm (Mk 14, 29.31; Mt 14, 28-29), but in the moment of danger and of taking a decision, his heart becomes small and he turns back (Mt 14, 30; Mk 14, 66-72). He even got to be Satan for Jesus (Mk 8, 33). Jesus calls him Pietra- Rock (Pietro). Peter of himself was not Rock, he becomes Rock (roccia), because Jesus prays for him (Lk 22, 31-32).

- James and John are ready to suffer with and for Jesus (Mk 10, 39), but they were very violent (Lk 9, 54). Jesus calls them “sons of thunder” (Mc 3, 17). John seemed to have a certain jealousy. He wanted Jesus only for his group (Mk 9, 38).

- Philip had a certain welcoming way. He knew how to get others in contact with Jesus (Jn 1, 45-46), But he was not too practical in solving problems (Jn 12, 20-22; 6, 7). Sometimes he was very naïve. There was a moment when Jesus lost patience with him: Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? (Jn 14, 8-9)

- Andrew, the brother of Peter and friend of Philip, was more practical. Philip goes to him to solve the problems (Jn 12, 21-22). Andrew calls Peter (Jn 1, 40-41), and Andrew found the boy who had five loaves and two fish (Jn 6, 8-9).

- Bartholomew seems to be the same as Nathanael. He was from that place and could not admit that something good could come from Nazareth (Jn 1, 46).

- Thomas was capable to maintain his opinion for a whole week, against the witness of all the others (Jn 20, 24-25). But when he saw that he was mistaken he was not afraid to recognize his error (Jn 20, 26-28). He was generous, ready to die with Jesus (Jn 11, 16).

- Mathew or Levi he was the Publican, the tax collector, like Zacchaeus (Mt 9, 9; Lk 19, 2). They were persons committed in the oppressing system of the time.

- Simon, instead seems belonged to the movement which was radically opposed to the system that the Roman Empire imposed on the Jewish people. This is why they also called it Zelots (Lk 6, 15). The group of the Zelots succeeded in provoking a armed revolt against the Romans.

- Judas was the one who was in charge of the money of the group (Jn 13, 29). He betrayed Jesus.

- James of Alphaeus and Judas Thadeus, of these two the Gospels say nothing except the name.

4) Personal questions

• Jesus spends the whole night in prayer to know whom to choose, and he chooses these twelve. What conclusions do you draw from this gesture of Jesus?

• The first Christians remembered the names of the twelve Apostles who were at the origin of their community. Do you remember the names of the persons who are at the origin of the community to which you belong? Do you remember the name of some catechist or professor who was significant for your Christian formation? What do you especially remember about them: the content of what they taught you or the witness that they gave you?

5) Concluding prayer

The Lord is good,

his faithful love is everlasting,

his constancy from age to age. (Ps 100,5)

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