Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles
Lectionary: 666
Lectionary: 666
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.
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.
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.
Alleluia See Te Deum
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
We praise you, O God,
we acclaim you as Lord;
the glorious company of Apostles praise you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
We praise you, O God,
we acclaim you as Lord;
the glorious company of Apostles praise you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
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.
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.
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.
The
Lord Jesus works in and through us for his glory
When the Lord Jesus 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?
When the Lord Jesus 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?
Are
you hungry for God and his transforming power to change you?
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 and made whole. 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 Jesus to increase your faith in his saving power and grace.
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 and made whole. 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 Jesus 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."
Daily
Quote from the early church fathers: Jesus chose fishermen and tax
collectors to be apostles, by Ambrose of Milan, 339-397 A.D.
"It
says, 'He called his disciples, and he chose twelve of them,' whom he appointed
sowers of the faith, to spread the help of human salvation throughout the
world. At the same time, observe the heavenly counsel. He chose not wise men,
nor rich men, nor nobles, but fishermen and tax collectors, whom he would
direct, lest they seem to have seduced some by wisdom, or bought them with
riches, or attracted them to their own grace with the authority of power and
nobility. He did this so that the reasoning of truth, not the grace of
disputation, should prevail." (excerpt from EXPOSITION OF THE
GOSPEL OF LUKE 5.44)
FEASTS
OF SAINTS SIMON AND JUDE, APOSTLES
Some ancient Christian writers say that Simon and Jude went together as missionaries to Persia, and were martyred there. If this is true, it explains, to some extent why they are usually put together. Simon is named in the lists of the apostles. He is called the Zealot because of his association with the Jewish independence movement devoted to violent insurrection described by the Jewish historian Josephus. However, there were many movements that were called Zealots, not all alike, and Josephus tells us that the movement he described did not arise until shortly before the destruction of the temple in 70 AD.
Jude (not to be confused with Judas Iscariot), also called Thaddeus meaning "Courageous", is the disputed author of a short epistle in the New Testament. He was the brother of James the Lesser. He was renowned for exorcising demons from pagan idols. It has been speculated by Eusebius of Caesaria (Church History, Book I) that Jude carried the burial shroud of Jesus to King Abgar of Edessa (Turkey). Saint Jude is often depicted carrying the shroud folded up into a case with a window that shows just the face of Christ. It is said that when Jude opened the image to cure the king, both Jude and the image became radiant with light; hence the traditional flame on Saint Jude’s forehead. According to traditional accounts, Jude was beaten to death with a club, then beheaded, in Persia, sometime before the end of the first century. Jude has in recent years become patron saint of lost causes.
Monday 28 October 2019
Sts
Simon and Jude
Ephesians
2:19-22. Psalm 18(19):2-5. Luke 6:12-19.
Their
message goes out through all the earth – Psalm 18(19):2-5
‘He
spent the night in prayer to God’
In
today’s gospel, 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 healing power.
In
today’s first reading, Paul writes that the church is God’s temple and that the
Gentiles are built into it. It is a church built on foundations that the
prophets and the apostles have laid, with Jesus Christ as cornerstone and them
as part of the building. Lord, bring all your church together in following you,
ready to work for the building of your reign in our time, and attentive to
finding and serving you in the poor.
Saints Simon and Jude
Saint of the Day for October 28
(1st Century)
 |
| San Simón | Jusepe de Ribera / Saint Jude Thaddeus | Georges de La Tour |
Saints Simon and Jude’s Story
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.
Reflection
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.
Saint Jude is the Patron Saint of:
Desperate Situations
Lectio Divina: Saints Simon and Jude, apostles - Luke 6:12-19
Lectio Divina
Monday, October 28, 2019
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.
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 says 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 final choice of the twelve Apostles,
Jesus goes up to the mountain and 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 elaborates on 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. 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) with little difference.
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 had the name of Levi (Mk 2: 14), the other son of
Jacob (Gn 35: 23). Of the twelve Apostles, seven have a 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 in the pedagogy of the
people. By the names of the Patriarchs and the ‘Matriarchs’, given to the sons
and daughters, people maintained the tradition of the ancients alive 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 were 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 and 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 when taking
a decision, his heart becomes small and he turns back (Mt 14: 30; Mk
14: 66-72). He was even 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 welcoming way. He knew how to get others in
contact with Jesus (Jn 1: 45-46), but he was not very 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 of maintaining 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 was the Publican, a tax collector, like
Zacchaeus (Mt 9: 9; Lk 19: 2). They were persons committed to 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 them Zelots (Lk 6: 15). The group of
Zelots succeeded in provoking an 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.
- Nothing is said about James of Alphaeus and Judas Thadeus in
in the Gospels 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?
• 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)
his faithful love is everlasting,
his constancy from age to age. (Ps 100: 5)
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