Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles (October 28)

From: saintvincentarchabbey.org

Eph 2:19-22; Ps 19:2-5; Lk 6:12-16

"Imparts knowledge"

The heavens declare the glory of God because they display the beauty of God. The bright blue sky on a crisp autumn day delights the eyes, and even the grey and cloudy days invite calm and meditation. Indeed the voice of the heavens is the wind, the very breath of God, and the thunder, the very voice of the LORD. The very sky just by being what it is declares the glory of God. The firmament is bright with the moon, the sun, stars, rainbows, meteors, comets, galaxies, clouds, and the aurora borealis. Such beauty stops us and demands our loving gaze. When we behold the LORD's handiwork, how can we stop from singing? The lover of creation, who becomes the lover of the Creator, can no more stop singing than the fire can stop burning. Indeed, we join the silent and noisy rejoicing of all creation: "Blessed be God who pours out the word to day, and imparts knowledge night after night." Every creature declares, proclaims, and pours out a word of praise and wonder for the mystery of God’s beauty seen in all his handiwork. Indeed, we who listen with the heart hear the word of praise on the lips of brother sun and sister moon. Indeed, all creatures of our God and King invite us to join in their silent melodies. We listen so carefully that not a discourse or a voice is not heard. It is the company of friends gathered around the Word Made Flesh, Jesus the LORD, who continue his discourse and his words in the Scriptures and in the Oral Tradition of the Church. Indeed, it is their voice that resounds to the ends of the world and their message through all the earth. These Apostolic Witnesses have given what only they could give. An eyewitness and an ear witness to the good news of Jesus the Christ. This is the good news every generation has longed to hear. The good news every people have needed to hear. The good news is the Father reaching out to embrace the whole world through his two arms, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Indeed, the Father holds us close to his own heart and summons each one of us to eternal intimacy, face-to-face with the Creator of Heaven and earth. This same apostolic witness is the only good news we have to offer people of our generation and our community.

We celebrate two of the Twelve, Saint Simon and Saint Jude. They are named in today's gospel as disciples who were called to a further commitment and mission as apostles. These faith filled followers were sent to be faithful witnesses in the word and in the blood. Like most of earliest believers these two gave everything up in sacrifice with the Great High Priest, Jesus Christ. We, too, are called to such radical witness. We are no strangers to the mysteries of Christ. Indeed, we have shared in his dying and rising. The Holy Spirit has transformed our fear to faith; our witness is unashamed and on occasion even bold. We are not sojourners in the Church. Indeed, we have signed on the dotted line. We are no strangers to the mysteries of Christ. Indeed, we have shared in his dying and rising. The Holy Spirit has transformed our fear to faith; our witness is unashamed and on occasion even bold. We are not sojourners in the Church. Indeed, we have signed on the dotted line. We are at home in the Body of Christ; our life doesn't make sense anymore without Christ and his Church. As Saint Paul tells his beloved Ephesians, we are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. Notice the use of the less demanding word "holy ones" in the new translation. Why is saint so unfamiliar to us? Are we not called to be saints? If only saints, angels, and God dwell in the heavenly kingdom, where do we fit in? We are not angels, and we are not God, so we must be saints. Yes, those who make it to heaven from the human race are called saints, and that sanctity begins here and now. We have been built upon the solid foundation of the Apostles and prophets; Christ Jesus himself is our capstone. Through him, with him and in him, we are growing together into a holy temple, a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Indeed, the LORD God, Almighty, is at home in us and among us. Through our community the LORD welcomes his distant and unfamiliar children to come and realize his love and tender mercy. This is our apostolic witness, first community then preaching and celebrating the mysteries of Christ the LORD. This is how we are fellow citizens with Saint Jude and Saint Simon.

From the Gospel of Saint Luke we learn that Simon was called a Zealot and Judas the son of James was called Jude. Perhaps Simon was called a Zealot because he was a member of the party of the Zealots who were willing to cause the Roman oppressors as much trouble as they could, even to the point of violence. On the other hand Saint Simon the Apostle could have been called a Zealot because before he started following the Lord Jesus he was a member of this revolutionary movement. After meeting the Lord Jesus he had another agenda and another zeal all together. He was struck with the lightning of meeting Christ the Lord, and it changed everything. Now, he put away the sword and took up the word, the only weapon fit for the Kingdom of God. Perhaps Judas the son of James was called Saint Jude the Apostle by early church tradition because his name reminded everyone of the other Judas, who became a traitor. Saint Jude was no traitor; he was willing to do what Judas Iscariot was not willing to do. He was willing to take the morsel offered at the Last Supper and become what he ate, the body and blood of Christ. Saint Jude accepted the service of washing dirty feet just as Christ had washed his. Judas Iscariot did neither. His attitude echoes another traitor who shattered the eternal liturgy with his announcement, NON SERVERUM, "I will not serve." No wonder he name is changed in the tradition. Today we remember and celebrate the Apostles, Saint Simon and Saint Jude, who were chosen by the Lord Jesus after carful thought and a nighttime of prayer to the Father. These Twelve he called to himself and sent forth to proclaim to the ends of the earth, "Jesus is LORD!" Are our voices one with this apostolic witness? Are we willing to shed our comforts, attachments, luxuries, and even our blood to give witness to our Lord and Savior?

Simon and Jude

From: http://www.simonjude.net/

Saint Simon

The name of Saint Simon usually appears eleventh in the list of the Apostles. Born at Cana in Galilee – the site of the Lord’s miracle at a wedding feast – St. Simon was surnamed “the Zealot,” probably due to his affiliation with a Jewish reform group. Following the Lord’s Resurrection, he preached the Gospel and initiated the life of the Church in Persia (modern day Iran) and Asia Minor (Turkey). He was martyred sometime in the mid-first century, and is often depicted with the instrument of his martyrdom – a saw. St. Simon’s relics are now housed at the Vatican along with those of St. Jude. St. Simon is especially called upon when we face difficulty and contempt for our religious beliefs or the practice of our religion.

Saint Jude

Saint Jude, also called “Thaddeus,” was the Apostle who asked the Lord at the Passover Supper the night before His Death why He had manifested Himself only to His disciples and not to the whole world (John 14:22). Saint Jude is also the Apostle who authored the epistle contained in the New Testament, encouraging the early Church in the face of adversity. St. Jude preached the Gospel along with St. Simon in Persia. St. Jude was renowned for his effective preaching and refutation of the enemies of the Church, in casting out demons, and in converting the Zoroastrian king. St. Jude was martyred by being run-through with a spear, and his relics are housed at the Vatican. St. Jude is known around the world as the patron of causes despaired of… when everything seems hopeless, his prayers are often sought.

Pope Encourages Personal Relationship With Christ

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 21, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Only Jesus is "joy to the heart," says Benedict XVI, citing words from St. Bernard of Clairvaux.

The Pope reflected today during the general audience on this 12th century saint, highlighting his personal relationship with Christ.



According to the Holy Father, "in a more than decisive way, the abbot of Clairvaux configures the theologian to the contemplative and the mystic. Only Jesus -- insists Bernard in face of the complex dialectical reasoning of his time -- only Jesus is 'honey to the mouth, song to the ear, joy to the heart.'"



Ideas like this one, noted the Pontiff, won the saint his traditional title: "Doctor Mellifluus: his praise of Jesus Christ, in fact, 'runs like honey.'"

Benedict XVI observed that "the abbot of Clairvaux does not tire of repeating that only one name counts, that of Jesus the Nazarene. 'Arid is all food of the soul,' [the saint] confesses, 'if it is not sprinkled with this oil; insipid, if it is not seasoned with this salt. What is written has no flavor for me, if I have not read Jesus.' And he concludes: 'When you discuss or speak, nothing has flavor for me, if I have not heard resound the name of Jesus.'"



The Pope said Bernard's concept of true knowledge of God consists in a "personal, profound experience of Jesus Christ and of his love."



"And this, dear brothers and sisters," he said, "is true for every Christian: Faith is above all a personal, intimate encounter with Jesus, and to experience his closeness, his friendship, his love; only in this way does one learn to know him ever more, and to love and follow him ever more. May this happen to each one of us."

Catholic Underground in Pittsburgh this Saturday

http://www.catholicundergroundpittsburgh.org/

Memorial of Saint John of Capistrano (Oct, 24, 2009)

From: saintvincentarchabbey.org

Rom 8:1-11, Ps 24:1-6; Lk 13:1-9

"Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face."

So what is the blessing, the reward that we shall receive from the LORD God, our savior? What do we expect from the LORD who made the earth and its fullness and all those who dwell upon it? He founded the seas, and he established the rivers. How can we even climb the mountain where he dwells? How can we stand in his holy place to receive anything? We must have clean hearts, and sinless hands. We must not desire anything that is vain. What is vain? It is vain to desire anything more than we desire the LORD God Almighty. Can we claim membership in the race that seeks him, that seeks the face of the God of Jacob? We are commanded to ask, seek, and knock. Whenever we ask, we receive. Whenever we seek, we find. Whenever we knock, it is opened to us. Our Heavenly Father always answers our prayer by the abundant gift of the Holy Spirit. For what more could we ask? Does not the gift of the Holy Spirit far surpass all we could have ever imagined? Is there anything else we need? As Saint Paul teaches his beloved in the church in Rome, "If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells in you." Indeed it is only the Holy Spirit who can enable the growth necessary so that we can bear His Fruits to nourish and refresh our world: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control.

The law has only so much to offer. It does guide us in forming a good conscience so that we can continue to choose the will of God. However, the law has not power to strengthen our weakened flesh. Indeed, we are weakened because the desire or tendency toward sin remains enfleshed as patterns of behavior, habits of the heart. What we cannot do of our own accord, God does within us by the gift of grace in Christ and in the Holy Spirit. We are too close to our own situation to see ourselves clearly, as God sees us. We all too easily make excuses for our weakness and sinful habits. They have become our friends; they seem to offer some level of comfort that is within our reach and our control. Left to our own devices we have no hope for change, for growth in spirit and truth. We need the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ in order to be strong and even to desire the Father's will more than our own will. In the Holy Spirit we belong to Christ and we no longer belong to sin, to our habits of seeming self-affirmation. Because Christ has taken up residence in our hearts, we are dead to sin and alive in Christ. As Saint Paul writes elsewhere, we can say with total confidence, "It is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me!"

Before the Lord Jesus told the parable in today's gospel, where did you think he was going? Perhaps it seem like he was trying to answer the question we often express this way: "Why do bad things happen to good people?" Actually, he refuses to answer that question. The Galileans were killed because Pilate wanted to achieve some political goal. Those crushed by the tower of Siloam were killed because of a freak accident. There is no easy explanation for "physical evil." The Lord Jesus used these two examples from the news of his day to simply summon his listeners to repent. Even more so, this crowd was warned to stop thinking themselves to be better human beings because they did not suffer in these ways. They may have been even more painful events ahead of each of those who gathered around the Lord that day. Then comes the good news, and it's in the parable. The gardener says to the orchard owner like Jesus says to the Father with his whole life and ministry. "Father, let me pour my life upon the cross and pour out the Spirit upon this fig tree of yours, then it will bear fruit." We are the fig trees. This is our grace filled, Spirit filled opportunity! If we do not bear fruit this time, will there be another opportunity? At a dark and turbulent time all through the Western world Saint John of Capistrano was summoned to sanctity and to service. As a Franciscan Friar and Catholic Priest this great Christian Optimist helped the plague infested and war torn peoples of Europe to triumph over the darkness of Moslem domination and begin to heal from the Western Schism when there were three claimants to the Holy See at one time. This Holy Friar continues to pray for us that darkness will be lifted from our hearts and that we might bear the Fruits of the Holy Spirit in our day.