Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc.
FEAST OF STS. SIMON AND JUDE THADDEUS, APOSTLES
Psalter: Proper / (Red)
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 19: 2-3, 4-5: The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
1st Reading: Ephesians 2: 19-22
Now, you are no longer strangers or guests, but fellow citizens of the holy people: you are of the household of God. You are the house, whose foundations are the apostles and prophets, and whose cornerstone is Christ Jesus.
In him, the whole structure is joined together, and rises, to be a holy temple, in the Lord.
In him, you, too, are being built, to become the spiritual Sanctuary of God.
Gospel: Luke 6: 12-16
At this time, Jesus went out into the hills to pray, spending the whole night in prayer with God.
When day came, he called his disciples to him, and chose Twelve of them, whom he called ‘apostles’: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James son of Alpheus and Simon called the Zealot; Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who would be the traitor.
REFLECTION:
“Jesus chose them.”
Today’s Gospel tells that Jesus spent a night in prayer. Afterwards, he chose his Twelve Apostles.
We may reflect on the point that Jesus did not choose people having similar personalities. Rather, Jesus chose people of different characters. Simon and Jude could be taken as examples.
On the one hand, Simon is identified as a Zealot (cf. Lk 6:15) while in other accounts he is identified as Simon the Cananean (cf. Mk 3:18; Mt 10:4).
On the other hand, Jude is identified as Judas the Son of James (cf. Lk 6:16) and as Thaddeus (cf. Mk 3:18; Mt 10:3). Based on other manuscripts for Matthew 10:3, Jude is also referred to as Lebbaios. This word is from the Hebrew libbai, which means “hearty.” The Hebrew word leb means “heart.”
We may wonder how the personality of Simon, the nationalistic, would blend with the personality of Jude, the cordial and exuberant.
While being summoned to become the better versions of ourselves, the Lord always respects our personalities. He builds up on the good side of our character, allowing it to harmonize with those of others whom he also called to follow him on the road.
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