Feast of Saints

Simon and Jude
Wednesday,
October 28, 2015
Simon and Jude,
Apostles
1st Reading:
Eph 2:19-22
Gospel: Lk 6:12-19

Jesus went out into the hills to pray, spending the whole night in prayer with God. When day came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them whom he called apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James son of Alpheus and Simon called the Zealot; Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who would be the traitor.

D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience)

On the Feast of Saints Simon and Jude today, we read Luke’s account of Jesus’ selection of the twelve apostles. The group was highly polarized. One member was a revolutionary (Simon the Zealot) while another was a conspirator of the Romans (Matthew the tax collector); one was always in the limelight (Peter) while two others were virtual unknowns (Simon and Jude). Today’s liturgical feast highlights the unknown spectrum of this apostolic group as it invites us to honor Saints Simon and Jude.

Simon is so unknown to us that we are not even sure about his real name. Luke calls him “Simon the Zealot,” while Matthew and Mark call him “Simon the Canaanite.” Jude too comes to us similarly veiled in anonymity. Luke calls him “Jude the brother of James,” while Matthew calls him “Thaddeus.” We find only one statement (from John’s Gospel) by Jude, but none about Simon. So let us just limit today’s Gospel reflection to the person of Jude.

John wrote: “Judas (not Judas Iscariot, but the other disciple with that name) said to him, “Lord, why are you going to reveal yourself only to us and not to them?” (John 14:22). Judas must have been altruistic, for he was uneasy about making exclusive the privilege of knowing the Messiah. He wanted the whole world to know and love Him. It appears that he had such depth in missionary zeal.

Jude’s missionary zeal was ablaze despite the clouds that veiled the identity of Jesus as Messiah. His missionary zeal embarrasses us because although we have behind us a thick layer of faith history assuring us of Jesus’ identity, we are not as zealous in sharing our faith with others. Living the faith would have been enough to turn us into constructive evangelizers because of witnessing’s inherent power to impart the faith. This we are not even doing very well. We even drive others away from the Church by the scandalous lives we live. May St. Jude’s missionary zeal challenge us to share the faith at least by living charitable lives. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email:[email protected]. Website: www.frdan.org.

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