Homily: October 28 - Saints Simon & Jude, Apostles

It is not entirely clear why we celebrate Simon and Jude together, perhaps because both of them for a time preached the Gospel throughout Persia.  Most biographers tell us that we do not know much about the apostles Simon and Jude.  Only God knows the complete details about their lives.  Yet, we know all we need to know about them, don’t we?  By the simple fact that we celebrate their feast as Saints, we know that they loved God above all things and were faithful to their mission as Apostles.

They were chosen by our Lord as apostles to establish the Church throughout the world.  They both were zealous in preaching the Gospel in a pagan land.

In this Gospels, Simon is called the Zealot.  So it is very likely that Simon was among that political group of Jesus’ time wanting to overthrow the Roman occupying force.  It is striking to think that among the twelve apostles, you had a number of fishermen, a tax collecter (Matthew) who worked for the Romans, and a Zealot (Simon) who wanted to overthrow the Romans.  

Some biographers claim that St. Jude, a cousin of the Lord Jesus, was neither a fisherman, tax-collector, or zealot, but a farmer.  In fact, according to an ancient source, Nicephorus Callistus, this apostle was the bridegroom at the wedding feast of Cana.  This Jude is the apostle who authored the New Testament Letter of Jude, and it truly is a farmers letter.  It is a very short book, only 25 verses.  It is blunt, bold, and powerful, like a good farmer. 

Both of these Apostles were courageous in their preaching of the Gospel.  The legend of their death states that they were in the city of Suanir in the Persian Empire, as they had been preaching there for thirteen years, having won thousands of converts.  Upon entering the city, they were told they must offer a pagan sacrifice in the temple of the sun and the moon.  They explained that the sun and the moon were only creations of the one true God, whom they preached.  They drove demons out of the pagan temple, and two black, hideous evil spirits, began howling and blaspheming.  The Persians assailed the two apostles.  And Jude said to Simon, “I see my Lord Jesus Christ calls us.”  And they were killed by the angry group.

We rejoice today at the courage of these men, and ask them to draw us ever deeper ourselves into the service of the Lord and his Holy Gospel, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.