October 28
Feast of Saints Simon & Jude
Apostles
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Today’s Gospel:
Luke 6:12-16
(The Twelve
Apostles)
“In these days he went out to the
mountain to pray; and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when it was
day, he called his disciples, and chose from them twelve, whom he named
apostles; Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and
John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son
of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, and Judas the son of James,
and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.”
Reflection:
Paul
says we are no longer strangers and aliens but fellow citizens and members of
God’s household! That household is built on the foundation of the apostles and
prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone. Each of us is
a stone in a growing temple where God lives. What a beautiful thing to be: a
living stone! Today we celebrate two of those foundation stones, the Apostles
Simon and Jude.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus spends the entire night on the mountain in
prayer before He chooses the Twelve. Then He calls them by name, including
Simon the Zealot and Jude, also called Thaddaeus, who are barely mentioned in
the Gospels. Don’t you love that? Jesus chooses the quiet, the lesser-known,
the overlooked. Jude has become beloved as the patron of hopeless cases,
because people have found that no situation is too hard for Jesus. If you ever
feel too ordinary to share the Gospel, remember the Lord chose these two.
And notice who has been with the apostles from the start. At the foot
of the Cross, Jesus gave His beloved disciple to His Mother and gave her to us.
So, Mary became the Mother of the whole household of God. Tradition tells us
that Simon and Jude carried the Gospel to Persia together. It is Beneath the
Standard of Mary, where we have the courage of children who have a Mother like
ours.
Where in your life does something feel hopeless,
and have you handed it to Jesus through Saint Jude? Who else is waiting for the hope you can bring them? Go forward as a living stone, with Mary your
Mother beside you.
Rosary Man Jim 🌹
Freely given. Freely
shared.
