Feast of the Apostles Simon and Jude Thaddaeus, Oct. 28, 2006

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

We know that the listings of the twelve apostles do make for some confusing information about who the last few mentioned are, but by seeing that Luke has the name Jude before Judas Iscariot, we realize that this is probably the same as Thaddaeus in the other Gospels of Matthew and Mark; John does not mention Jude. This leads us to accept Jude Thaddaeus as one person, one apostle. In the tradition about the two saints of today, we are informed that they were both martyred on the same day, hence, the liturgical reasoning behind having them together on this date which probably is not the day they underwent martyrdom but a constructed date. They are said to have been sent on the mission Jesus had proclaimed and they did this according to tradition to the people in Persia(modern Iran) and Irag or Mesopotamia.

Luke always has Jesus praying on important occasions and the choice of the twelve disciples who would be named apostles is very important. We have this within the context of the listing of the twelve that Luke gives us today. It is Luke who has some specific criteria for being named an apostle: 1)one must be a follower and disciple of Jesus during his active ministry; 2) one must be named and called by Jesus; 3) the apostle has to have seen and experienced the Risen Lord.

Why twelve apostles? This is symbolic of all the tribes of Israel, twelve in number who were the sons of Jacob the great patriarch named Israel. An apostle is one who is sent to proclaim the Good News (Gospel) about Jesus' words, deeds, his actions, and his suffering, death, and resurrection. They were to travel and bring the Gospel to others by preaching, teaching, healing and converting people. As the Epistle for today says they were to be built into being the holy temple of the Lord and were to be a dwelling place for God in the Spirit. This has a resonance of a Trinitarian call, yet, God is one for them and for Christians. One of my friends who had taught Greek at Central State University reminded me that the Apostles' Creed has twelve parts to it thus indicating something for each of the twelve in our Creed.

Luke lists Simon tenth in the listing of apostles, whereas Jude is the eleventh listed. Simon is called the Zealot or Cananean (which means zealot in Aramaic or possibly someone from Cana). Luke mentions Simon and Jude in both his Gospel (Luke 6:15 and Acts 1:13). Tradition has Simon as a missionary apostle to Egypt and to Persia. Jude is missionary apostle to Mesopotamia or Iraq. Maybe these are the good apostles to address in our prayers for peace and an end to terrorism in speech and in action.

Jude comes to be known as the patron of hopeless causes, but only in the twentieth century. He probably appeared less and less in the memory of people because of the similarity of his name to Judas Iscariot, the betrayer. Jude Thaddaeus is the patron of hospitals. Luke is the only one to mention him twice; John has him once in 14:22. All exegetes say that he is not the author of the epistle of Jude.

Let us thank God for the gift of these two saints and apostles who live on in the Scriptures, in Tradition, and in our Liturgical and devotional practices. And as a Marianist I think of Our Lady, Queen of the Apostles. Amen.