Daily Gospel Reflection
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October 28, 2022
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.
One of my favorite parts of the Mass is the beginning of the canon during the prayers of the Eucharist. The priest joins his prayer with those of Mary, Joseph, and the saints. He then lists the apostles—Peter and Paul, Andrew, James and John, Thomas, James, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon, and Jude—before continuing with post-biblical saints such as Linus, considered the first successor to the papacy after St. Peter.
What I love about this part of the prayer is the way that it connects the Bible to the continuing life of the Church. Growing up, I was given the impression that the time of the apostles, and the activity of the Spirit that breathed in them, was closed off to me.
Today, I understand and appreciate the full power and beauty of apostolic succession, rocky though it may have been over many centuries. It is alive and well! It is incredible to contemplate that through the bishops, we have real contact with the first followers of Jesus named in today’s gospel passage.
Every time the priests say those names during the Mass, it reminds me that our community and our communion transcend time, that the work of the apostles is ongoing and that we are part of that!
May we each take time today to contemplate the beauty of the Mass and the God that calls us each by name to be his beloved disciples.
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!