Daily Catholic Lectio
Mon, 28 October ‘24
Monday of the XXX Week of the Year
Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles – Feast
Ephesians 2:19-22. Luke 6:12-19.
We, too, are apostles!
“We, who listen to the preaching of the apostles, who stand in their faith tradition, who are inspired by their life examples, are apostles as well.’
Today we celebrate the feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles. Luke calls them “Simon, who was called the zealot, and Judas, the son of James.” Saint Jude is venerated as the patron saint of the helpless and the hopeless. The tradition holds that Jude was a relative (cousin) of Jesus, and it was in his marriage at Cana that Jesus worked his first miracle of turning water into wine.
The readings of the day give us three understandings of the apostles:
(a) Foundations—prominent but hidden! Paul, metaphorizing the church into a building (cf. First Reading), names apostles and prophets as its foundation. ‘Foundation’ is the most prominent thing in a building. The strength, stability, and longevity of a building depend on its foundation. However, the foundation is hidden; it is invisible to our eyes. We don’t appreciate the foundation as much as we appreciate the visible building. Like salt in food, foundation dissolves itself under the earth. Our faith life is like a building. We received our faith from the apostles, and having this faith as the foundation of our lives, we build on it. The apostles are hidden inside our faith, and Jesus is visible to others.
(b) On the mountain with Jesus, on the plains with Jesus. Jesus’ calling of the apostles took place on the mountain, where he was alone in prayer. After calling them into one group, Jesus brought them down to the plains and made them stand there with other people. There begins their ministry. The apostles have to stand in both places: mountains and plains. Mountains and plains represent two stages of our spiritual life. In the first reading, Moses, who was with God on the mountain (Sinai), came down to the people (cf. Exod 34:29-34). In the war with the Amalekites, people were able to win because Moses was on the mountain and Joshua was on the plains (cf. Exod 17:8-16). The meeting point of mountains and plains is the starting point of our victory. We need to constantly move up the mountain and come down to the plains.
(c) Names and actions! Luke records the names of the apostles when they were on the mountain with Jesus. When the apostles come down to the plains, they become nameless. But their actions – preaching, healing of diseases, and casting out of demons – are recorded. It is not our names that define our identity, but our actions. The apostles have become immortal not because of their names but because of their actions – of preaching the good news to the ends of the earth. It is not our name as ‘Christian’ that is important, but what we ‘do’ or how we ‘act’ as Christians matters.
Luke concludes the narrative by saying, “All the crowd sought to touch Jesus.” The apostles stand as bridges between Jesus and us. It is through their fingers of faith that we touch Jesus today. And their fingers continue to extend in today’s world – through each of us!
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A note about the picture of Saint Jude. Saint Jude is often depicted holding an image of Jesus. As per tradition, King Abagar of Edessa (modern-day Turkey) asked Jesus to cure him of leprosy and sent an artist to bring him a drawing of Jesus. Impressed with Abagar’s great faith, Jesus pressed His face on a cloth, leaving the image of His face on it. He gave the cloth to St. Jude, who took the image to Abagar and cured him.”
Saint Jude preached the Good News in the Middle East and later became a martyr. His remains were carried to Rome and deposited near the tomb of Saint Peter. Jesus reveals to Saint Bridget and Saint Bernard that Saint Jude is the helper of the helpless and the hopeless.
Saint Jude teaches us this lesson: believe in Jesus and show mercy to others. In the New Testament, we have ‘the Letter of Jude’, a single-chapter book. The book, after summing up the entire salvation history, gives two exhortations: (a) Build your life based on faith (v. 20); (b) Show mercy to those who doubt (v. 22).
“We, who listen to the preaching of the apostles, who stand in their faith tradition, who are inspired by their life examples, are apostles as well.’
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The ‘pilgrims of hope’ are apostles who carry the gospel of Jesus to everyone. (Jubilee 2025 AD, bite 236)
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
Missionary of Mercy
Yesu Karunanidhi 
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