Feasts of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles
Today’s feast celebrates Simon and Jude, two of the last apostles that Jesus called by name from among his disciples after spending the night in prayer. After teaching them about his vision of the Reign of God – where the poor, the hungry and the sorrowing are blessed, - and having them with him as he went about healing all sorts of people, he would “send” them ahead of him to take up his preaching and healing mission. The letter to the Ephesians tells us that we are built on the foundation of these apostles. And that, “In Him (Christ Jesus) you (we) also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”
What does it mean for us to becoming the dwelling place of God in our world? One thing it means is to be as open to the Spirit as Mary and the apostles were, so that God can take root in us and that we become a dwelling of the Spirit in our own day and time. We live in a time when we are painfully aware of those who are poor and hungry and sorrowing. And if we profess to follow Jesus and the apostolic mission entrusted to Simon and Jude and their brother and sister disciples who accompanied Jesus, we must be willing to go out and proclaim God’s Reign and be a source of healing.
—Sr. Laura Leming, FMI