Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 10-28-05, Feast, Sts. Simon and Jude, Apostles

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Who Is Saint Jude Thaddeus?/ST SIMON, SURNAMED THE ZEALOT, APOSTLE

From: Ephesians 2:19-22

Reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles in Christ (Continuation)

[19] So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are
fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
[20] built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ
Jesus himself being the cornerstone, [21] in whom the whole structure
is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; [22] in
whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the
Spirit.

Commentary:

11-22. What is the significance of the calling of the Gentiles to the
Church? Their previous situation, separated from Christ (vv. 11-12),
has undergone radical change as a result of the Redemption Christ
achieved on the Cross: that action has, on the one hand, brought the
two peoples together (made peace between them: vv. 13-15) and, on the
other, it has reconciled them with God, whose enemy each was (vv. 16-
18). The Redemption has given rise to the Church, which St Paul here
describes as a holy temple built on the foundation
of the apostles and prophets (vv. 19-22).

19. After describing the Redemption wrought by Christ and applied in
the Church by the Holy Spirit, St Paul arrives at this conclusion: the
Gentiles are no longer strangers; they belong to Christ's Church.

In the new Israel (the Church) privileges based on race, culture or
nationality cease to apply. No baptized person, be he Jew or Greek,
slave or free man, can be regarded as an outsider or stranger in the
new people of God. All have proper citizenship papers. The Apostle
explains this by using two images: The Church is the city of saints,
and God's family or household (cf. 1 Tim 3:15). The two images are
complementary: everyone has a family, and everyone is a citizen. In
the family context, the members are united by paternal, filial and
fraternal links, and love presides; family life has a special privacy.
But as a citizen one is acting in a public capacity; public affairs and
business must be conducted in a manner that is in keeping with laws
designed to ensure that justice is respected. The Church has some of
the characteristics of a family, and some of those of a polity (cf. St
Thomas Aquinas, "Commentary on Eph, ad loc.").

The head of the Church is Christ himself, and in his Church are
assembled the children of God, who are to live as brothers and sisters,
united by love. Grace, faith, hope, charity and the action of the Holy
Spirit are invisible realities which forge the links bringing together
all the members of the Church, which is moreover something very
visible, ruled by the successor of Peter and by the other bishops (cf.
Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 8), and governed by laws--divine and
ecclesiastical--which are to be obeyed.

20-22. To better explain the Church, the Apostle links the image of
"the household of God" to that of God's temple and "building" (cf. 1
Cor. 3:9). Up to this he has spoken of the Church mainly as the body of
Christ (v. 16). This image and that of a building are connected: our
Lord said, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up"
(Jn 2:19), and St John goes on to explain that he was speaking "of the
temple of his body" (Jn 2:21). If the physical body of Christ is the
true temple of God because Christ is the Son of God, the Church can
also be seen as God's true temple, because it is the mystical body of
Christ.

The Church is the temple of God. "Jesus Christ is, then, the foundation
stone of the new temple of God. Rejected, discarded, left to one side,
and done to death--then as now--the Father made him and continues to
make him the firm immovable basis of the new work of building. This he
does through his glorious resurrection [...].

"The new temple, Christ's body, which is spiritual and invisible, is
constructed by each and every baptized person on the living
cornerstone, Christ, to the degree that they adhere to him and 'grow'
in him towards 'the fullness of Christ'. In this temple and by means of
it, the 'dwelling place of God in the Spirit', he is glorified, by
virtue of the 'holy priesthood' which offers spiritual sacrifices (1
Pet 2:5), and his kingdom is established in the world.

"The apex of the new temple reaches into heaven, while, on earth,
Christ, the cornerstone, sustains it by means of the foundation he
himself has chosen and laid down--'the apostles and prophets' (Eph 2:
20) and their successors, that is, in the first place, the college of
bishops and the 'rock', Peter (Mt 16: 18)" (John Paul II, "Homily at
Orcasitas, Madrid", 3 November 1981).

Christ Jesus is the stone: this indicates his strength; and he is the
cornerstone because in him the two peoples, Jews and Gentiles, are
joined together (cf. St Thomas Aquinas, "Commentary on Eph, ad loc".).
The Church is founded on this strong, stable bedrock; this cornerstone
is what gives it its solidity. St Augustine expresses his faith in the
perennial endurance of the Church in these words: "The Church will
shake if its foundation shakes, but can Christ shake? As long as Christ
does not shake, so shall the Church never weaken until the end of time"
("Enarrationes in Psalmos", 103).

Every faithful Christian, every living stone of this temple of God,
must stay fixed on the solid cornerstone of Christ by cooperating in
his or her own sanctification. The Church grows "when Christ is, after
a manner, built into the souls of men and grows in them, and when souls
also are built into Christ and grow in him; so that on this earth of
our exile a great temple is daily in course of building, in which the
divine majesty receives due and acceptable worship" (Pius XII,
"Mediator Dei", 6).

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

From: Luke 6:12-16

The Calling of the Apostles

[12] In these days He (Jesus) went out into the hills to pray; and all
night He continued in prayer to God. [13] And when it was day, He
called His disciples, and chose from them twelve, whom He named
Apostles: [14] Simon, whom He named Peter, and Andrew, his brother, and
James and John, and Philip and Bartholomew, [15] and Matthew, and
Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the
Zealot, [16] and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became
a traitor.

Commentary:

12-13. The evangelist writes with a certain formality when describing
this important occasion on which Jesus chooses the Twelve, constituting
them as the apostolic college: "The Lord Jesus, having prayed at length
to the Father, called to Himself those whom He willed and appointed
twelve to be with Him, whom He might send to preach the Kingdom of God
(cf. Mark 2:13-19; Matthew 10:1-42). These Apostles (cf. Luke 6:13) He
constituted in the form of a college or permanent assembly, at the head
of which He placed Peter, chosen from among them (cf. John 21:15-17).
He sent them first of all to the children of Israel and then to all
peoples (cf. Romans 1:16), so that, sharing in His power, they might
make all peoples His disciples and sanctify and govern them (cf.
Matthew 28:16-20; and par.) and thus spread the Church and,
administering it under the guidance of the Lord, shepherd it all days
until the end of the world (cf. Matthew 28:20). They were fully
confirmed in this mission on the day of Pentecost (cf. Act 2:1-26)
[...]. Through their preaching the Gospel everywhere (cf. Mark 16:20),
and through its being welcomed and received under the influence of the
Holy Spirit by those who hear it, the Apostles gather together the
universal Church, which the Lord founded upon the Apostles and built
upon Blessed Peter their leader, the chief cornerstone being Christ
Jesus Himself (cf. Revelation 21:14; Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 2:20).
That divine mission, which was committed by Christ to the Apostles, is
destined to last until the end of the world (cf. Matthew 28:20), since
the Gospel, which they were charged to hand on, is, for the Church, the
principle of all its life for all time. For that very reason the
Apostles were careful to appoint successors in this hierarchically
constituted society" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 19-20).

Before establishing the apostolic college, Jesus spent the whole night
in prayer. He often made special prayer for His Church (Luke 9:18;
John 17:1ff), thereby preparing His Apostles to be its pillars (cf.
Galatians 2:9). As His Passion approaches, He will pray to the Father
for Simon Peter, the head of the Church, and solemnly tell Peter that
He has done so: "But I have prayed for you that your faith may not
fail" (Luke 22:32). Following Christ's example, the Church stipulates
that on many occasions liturgical prayer should be offered for the
pastors of the Church (the Pope, the bishops in general, and priests)
asking God to give them grace to fulfill their ministry faithfully.

Christ is continually teaching us that we need to pray always (Luke
18:1). Here He shows us by His example that we should pray with
special intensity at important moments in our lives. "`Pernoctans in
oratione Dei. He spent the whole night in prayer to God.' So St.
Luke tells of our Lord. And you? How often have you persevered like
that? Well, then...." ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 104).

On the need for prayer and the qualities our prayer should have, see
the notes on Matthew 6:5-6; 7:7-11; 14:22-23; Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16;
11:1-4; 22:41-42.

12. Since Jesus is God, why does He pray? There were two wills in
Christ, one divine and one human (cf. "St. Pius X Catechism", 91), and
although by virtue of His divine will He was omnipotent, His human will
was not omnipotent. When we pray, what we do is make our will known to
God; therefore Christ, who is like us in all things but sin (Hebrews
4:15), also had to pray in a human way (cf. "Summa Theologiae", III, q.
21, a. 1). Reflecting on Jesus at prayer, St. Ambrose comments: "The
Lord prays not to ask things for Himself, but to intercede on my
behalf; for although the Father has put everything into the hands of
the Son, still the Son, in order to behave in accordance with His
condition as man, considers it appropriate to implore the Father for
our sake, for He is our Advocate [...]. A Master of obedience, by His
example He instructs us concerning the precepts of virtue: `We have an
advocate with the Father' (1 John 2:1)" ("Expositio Evangelii sec.
Lucam, in loc.").

14-16. Jesus chose for Apostles very ordinary people, most of them poor
and uneducated; apparently only Matthew and the brothers James and John
had social positions of any consequence. But all of them gave up
whatever they had, little or much as it was, and all of them, bar
Judas, put their faith in the Lord, overcame their shortcomings and
eventually proved faithful to grace and became saints, veritable
pillars of the Church. We should not feel uneasy when we realize that
we too are low in human qualities; what matters is being faithful to
the grace God gives us.

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

Friday, October 28, 2005
Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles (Feast)

First Reading:
Psalm:
Gospel:

Ephesians 2:19-22
Psalm 19:2-5
Luke 6:12-16

Since Christ Himself has said, "This is My Body" who shall dare to doubt that It is His Body?

-- St Cyril of Jerusalem

Catholic Culture

Collect:
Father, you revealed yourself to us through the preaching of your apostles Simon and Jude. By their prayers, give your Church continued growth and increase the number of those who believe in you. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

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Prayers:

» Litany of Saint Jude Thaddeus

October 28, 2005

Sts. Simon and Jude, Apostles

Old Calendar: Sts. Simon and Jude, Apostles

Today the Church celebrates the feast of Sts. Simon and Jude whose names occur together in the Canon of the Mass and are also celebrated on the same day. Possibly this is because they both preached the Gospel in Mesopotamia and Persia where it is said they had both been sent, but in actual fact we know nothing for certain about them beyond what is told us of their being called as Apostles in the New Testament. St. Jude is the author of a short Epistle which forms part of the New Testament.

Sts. Simon and Jude

However meagre in details is the history of these glorious apostles, we learn from their brief legend how amply they contributed to this great work of generating sons of God. Without any repose, and even to the shedding of their blood, they "edified the body of Christ"; and the grateful Church thus prays to our Lord today: "O God, through the work of the apostles you have spoken your Word of love, your Son, into our world's deafness. Open our ears to hear; open our hearts to heed; open our will to obey, that we may proclaim the good news with our lives."

St. Simon is represented in art with a saw, the instrument of his martyrdom. St. Jude's square points him out as an architect of the house of God. St. Paul called himself by this name; and St. Jude, by his Catholic Epistle, has also a special right to be reckoned among our Lord's principal workmen. But our apostle had another nobility, far surpassing all earthly titles: being nephew, by his father Cleophas or Alpheus, to St. Joseph, and legal cousin to the Man-God, Jude was one of those called by their compatriots the brethren of the carpenter's Son. We may gather from St. John's Gospel another precious detail concerning him. In the admirable discourse at the close of the last Supper, our Lord said: "He that loveth Me, shall be loved of My Father: and I will love him and will manifest Myself to him." Then Jude asked Him: "Lord, how is it, that Thou wilt manifest Thyself to us, and not to the world?" And he received from Jesus this reply: "If any one love Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and will make Our abode with him. He that loveth Me not keepeth not My word. And the word which you have heard is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me."

The churches of St. Peter in Rome and Saint-Sernin at Toulouse dispute the honor of possessing the greater part of their holy remains.

Excerpted from The Liturgical Year, Abbot Gueranger O.S.B.

St. Jude
Patron: Desperate situations; forgotten causes; hospital workers; hospitals; impossible causes; lost causes; diocese of Saint Petersburg, Florida.

Symbols: Bearded man holding an oar, a boat, boat hook, a club, an axe or a book; nearly every image depicts him wearing a medallion with a profile of Jesus, and usually with a small flame above his head; often carries a pen or sits at a writing location to make reference to the canonical Epistle; sail boat; inverted cross; square; halbert; club; loaves and fish; long cross; knotted club; boat hook; fuller's bat; lance; saw; flail; closed book; shield: red with sailboat with a cross on the mast.

St. Simon
Patron: Curriers; sawmen; sawyers; tanners.

Symbols: Boat; fish; man being sawn in two longitudinally; fish and book; oar; saw; two fishes; lance; fuller's bat; axe; cross; saw and oar saltire; fish on a boat hood; sword; shield: red background with two oars and a hatchet.

Things to Do:

Traditionally Christians used to begin to prepare food such as bread of the dead and soul cakes for the feast of All Souls beginning on this day. In some areas people would beg for ingredients to make these cakes on this day.

American Catholic’s Saint of the Day

October 28, 2005

Sts. Simon and Jude

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 referred to. 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.

Comment:

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.

Quote:

"Just as Christ was sent by the Father, so also he sent the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit. This he did so that, by preaching the gospel to every creature (cf. Mark 16:15), they might proclaim that the Son of God, by his death and resurrection, had freed us from the power of Satan (cf. Acts 26:18) and from death, and brought us into the kingdom of his Father" (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy).

Homily of the Day

Homily of the Day

Title:	You Are Strangers No Longer
Author:	Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.
Date:	Friday, October 28, 2005

Eph 2:19-22 / Lk 6:12-16

Alienation is not a new problem. From the beginning of time, people have found themselves feeling like aliens and strangers, sometimes even in their own land and in their own homes. Attila the Hun had a knack for making the Romans feel like strangers in their own town. Genghis Khan was an expert at turning people into strangers, and so were Hitler and Stalin. Though no one did it to them, our first-generation immigrant ancestors knew the bitter uncertainty of never quite fitting in after they left their homelands and came to America.

The problem of alienation isn't limited just to immigrants and the victims of conquerors. It's a part of many people's lives in every age, and it's a problem now: People feeling like outsiders, feeling alone and disconnected from the mainstream of their own culture, which seems to have gotten up and walked away from them. A sad sense of confusion, futility, and uselessness fills many hearts.

In this complex, rapidly-changing culture of ours, that terrible malaise can afflict any one of us, and it can be crushing if we've lost our compass by letting ourselves get disconnected from Christ. He is the one who speaks for our Father and helps us to remember who we are — not aliens and strangers, but much beloved sons and daughters, and heirs, who have a future that's only begun to unfold.

So stay connected to him, and you'll always remember who you are. Stay connected to him, and you'll never doubt that you have a very special place in God's world.

thank you"Salvation"very good

Faith-sharing bump.

St. Jude Thaddeus, patron saint of hopeless causes, pray for me for my petition of which you alone are aware.

Prayers Up!

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I always enjoy reading the "Homily of the Day". Thanks!

Troparion - Tone 1

Divinely we praise you, O Jude, as a faithful witness, Knowing you to be the brother of Christ. You trampled on delusion, And so preserved the faith. Today as we celebrate your holy memory, By your intercessions we receive remission of sins.

Kontakion - Tone 2

You were chosen as a disciple for your firmness of mind: An unshakable pillar of the Church of Christ, You proclaimed His word to the Gentiles, Telling them to believe in one Godhead. You were glorified by Him, receiving the grace of healing, Healing the ills of all who came to you, O most praised Apostle Jude!

In Orthodoxy we celebrate this feast on June 19.

"O Holy Saint Jude, Apostle and Martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, near kinsman of Jesus Christ, faithful intercessor for all who invoke thy special patronage in time of need, to you we have recourse from the depths of our hearts and humbly beg to whom God has given such great power to come to our assistance."

You're welcome!

Prayers for you. With God all things are possible.

Thank you for posting the icon and the prayer.