Daily Reflection Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles

Our gospel today begins with the statement: “Jesus spent the night in prayer.” When Jesus goes off to pray something decisive is about to happen, like the call of the apostles. This call should remind Christians of their Hebrew heritage. The Nation of Israel was descended from the twelve sons of Jacob. Likewise, the Christian community is founded upon twelve individuals selected by Jesus. He called them “apostles,” meaning ‘the ones who are sent.’ They will be sent out to carry the Word of God to the ends of the earth.

Two of these apostles, whose feast we celebrate today, were Simon and Jude. Unfortunately, like many of the figures of the early church, not much is known of them. Jude is the author of one of the epistles, the penultimate book of the Bible, which was written between the years 50 and 100. Most likely, after Pentecost, Simon and Jude would have joined the other apostles in the ministry of evangelization. It is known that both of them were martyred in the first century and they were both commemorated in Rome on the same day since the ninth century.

We hear in today’s entrance antiphon, “These are the holy men whom the Lord chose in his own perfect love; to them he gave eternal glory.”  [216]