Daily Gospel Reflection
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October 28, 2019
Jesus went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James, and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was called the Zealot, and Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
Jesus, the Son of God, could have chosen anyone to help proclaim the message of salvation and spread the Gospel to all peoples. He could have chosen kings, scholars, elite noblemen, politicians, or religious leaders—people who had the skills and knowledge to preach and teach and the influence to make a significant difference.
But he did quite the opposite. He chose ordinary people with no social advantages or special education—tax collectors and fishermen—to be his closest followers. He chose the apostles, not for who they were before, but for what they would become through his guidance and the power of the Holy Spirit. Like the saying goes, “God does not call the qualified. God qualifies the called.”
Do you feel called to change the world? When God calls us to serve, we must not think we are unworthy or incapable of making a difference. Though we think we may not have much to offer, we can become an integral part of Jesus’ ministry. It is not about who we are, but who we can become with the help of Jesus Christ. He takes ordinary people, just like us, and uses us for the greatness of his kingdom.
Just like Jesus chose the apostles, he chooses each one of us “to be with him and to be sent out to proclaim the message.” Jesus Christ chooses us every day, but it is our decision to follow him.
Are you ready to change the world?
Prayer
Christ, before you called the Apostles, you went alone to the mountain to pray to the Father. When we face important decisions, give us the courage to approach our Father as you did. Confident in God’s love for us, we know that God will inspire us through the power of the Holy Spirit. Like Saints Simon and Jude, may we be tireless in our proclamation of your kingdom to all we encounter. We ask in your holy name. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Sts. Simon and Jude are often confused for more prominent characters in the Gospel narratives, so, unfortunately, we know comparatively little about them. Despite knowing little biographical information, we do know their most distinctive identity: they were faithful followers of Jesus.
St. Simon is known as the “zealous” (to distinguish him from Simon-Peter). The name is thought to either refer to his righteous zeal for the law or for his association with a Jewish political faction. Simon is mentioned only among the lists of the twelve Apostles in Matthew 10:4, Mark 3:18, and Luke 6:15. He is also mentioned in Acts, at the selection of Matthias to replace Judas (Acts 1:13), but he fades from the narrative after Pentecost.
The Apostle Jude also goes by the name of Thaddeus (as distinguished from Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus) and was the brother of St. James the Lesser. Like Simon, Jude is mentioned in the Gospels usually as only a name in the list of followers of Jesus, although, unlike Simon, he is mentioned in the Gospel of John, at the Last Supper, and gets a speaking role, asking Jesus: "Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?” (John 14:22) Similar to Simon, Jude is not mentioned in Acts after the events of Pentecost.
The most prominent traditions of these two saints in the Western Church tell us that Simon preached the Gospel in Egypt and Jude in Mesopotamia. The two met and traveled to Persia to spread the good news and were martyred there—thus, they are honored together, on the same feast day, in the Roman Catholic Church. Among Eastern Christian churches, different traditions hold that Simon was killed in Persia, in Samaria, and in Edessa. Thus, the saints are honored on different feast days in Eastern Christian churches.
There is a short letter in the New Testament that is attributed to a writer named Jude, but this author and St. Jude Thaddeus are not the same person. The author of the letter is purportedly a different Jude—a relation of Jesus, through either Mary or Joseph (Matthew 13:55, Mark 6:3).
St. Jude is honored as the patron of impossible causes, possibly because he was often confused with Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus and fell into despair. Another possible reason he is the patron of desperate situations could follow from people confusing him with the author of the Letter of Jude, which encourages the faithful to persevere through difficult situations and persecution. Because of his association with lost causes, St. Jude is often invoked in hospitals and among those facing life-threatening illness.
The account of St. Simon's martyrdom attributes his death to having been sawed in two. Thus, Simon became the patron saint of woodcutters.
Two statues of St. Jude stand on campus—one in between the Basilica and Corby Hall and the other in the chapel in Siegfried Hall. Relics of both Sts. Simon and Jude rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.
St. Jude, patron of impossible causes and desperate situations, and St. Simon, the zealous—pray for us!