Message of Abbot Paul - Saturday 28th October 2023

Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Apostles St Simon and St Jude. We are told in the Gospels that, after spending much time in prayer, Jesus decided to choose twelve men, twelve rather unlikely candidates, who would be his apostles and proclaim the Kingdom of God to all people and prepare them for the coming of Jesus. Simon the Zealot was one of the called. The Zealots were a Jewish group who believed that the promise of the Messiah meant a free and independent Jewish nation where they would never have to pay taxes to the Romans again. Some Zealots were also very concerned that the spiritual ideals of their religion be kept, although others in the group were known to resort to violence. Simon was called “the zealot” to distinguish him from Simon Peter. At the same time, Jesus called Jude Thaddeus, brother of James, most likely a fisherman by trade. Along with ten other men, the two of them followed Jesus, lived with him, fled when he underwent his Passion and rejoiced when he rose from the dead. At Pentecost they were filled with the Spirit and a burning desire to proclaim the Good News to all nations. According to tradition, Jude travelled to Mesopotamia to preach whereas Simon went to Egypt. Eventually they both ended up in Persia, modern-day Iran. There they worked together evangelizing the people until they were both martyred. These two unlikely candidates for apostleship finally witnessed to the risen Christ with their lives. St Jude is identified with the author of the Letter of Jude in the New Testament. He is also known and invoked as the saint of hopeless cases.

Today’s Gospel passage from Luke (Lk 6: 12-16) recounts the calling of the twelve Apostles, but before this happens, Jesus spends the night in prayer. “Jesus went out into the hills to pray; and he spent the whole night in prayer to God.” It is above all in his life of prayer, of intimate communion with the Father, that Jesus reveals his Divine Sonship. Frequently we read that he would leave the crowds and even his disciples behind and go off alone to some isolated spot to be alone in prayer with his heavenly Father. In this he invites us to follow his example. Not only should we deepen our relationship with God, but we should always seek his guidance before making important decisions that affect others as well as ourselves. “When day came, he summoned his disciples and picked out twelve of them; he called them ‘apostles’.” We are not given the criteria for picking these particular twelve disciples, nor are we told of their reaction or of the reaction of the other disciples. Just as the Patriarchs, Prophets and Kings were chosen of old, so now Jesus choses his Twelve Apostles and among them we find the names of Simon and Jude. “Simon whom he called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot who became a traitor.” It’s only when there are two of the same name that we’re given some distinguishing detail about them. So we are told that Simon is called the Zealot and that Judas is the son of James. It’s good to know that the apostles were mostly ordinary folk like you and me.