Homily of Monday of the 30th week in Ordinary Time.
SS Simon and Jude, Feast
Ephesians 2:19-22, Luke 6:12-19
Saints Simon and Jude, apostles of Christ, are celebrated for their steadfast faith and missionary zeal. Simon, called the Zealot, was known for his passionate commitment to spreading the Gospel. Jude, also known as Thaddeus, is remembered for his letter encouraging perseverance and faith during trials. Together, they traveled, preaching the Good News and converting many. Both are believed to have been martyred for their faith, becoming examples of courage and devotion.
It requires discernment to know who we should bring close to our hearts or share our dreams with. It is not all who we call friends who are truly meant to share in our vision. However, through deep prayers and reflection, we can attract those who are meant to help us achieve our mission. Even if some may have to inflict wounds on us, the scar of the injury we sustain through them will form the part of the motions that set our sail to our ultimate goal in life. They may not necessarily be perfect, because we are all work-in-progress.
Moreover, through us, God may have the plan of raising giants who will live out our mission when we must have gone. While we watch out for the consequences of their imperfections, we too must learn the art of tailoring them in the path that they must follow.
The fact is clear, unless we bring people close, we cannot make them understand or know what we truly stand for. Irrespective of the risk involve, God knows his plans for us. His merciful designs for our lives must surely unfold no matter the situations around us.
“Jesus went out into the hills to pray; and he spent the whole night in prayer to God. When day came he summoned his disciples and picked out twelve of them; he called them ‘apostles’: 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.”
Having prayed the whole night, Jesus brought together crops of people who ordinarily cannot live as one. One of them will later betray him, one will deny and many of them will desert him when the going becomes tough. Nevertheless, his grace will surpass their human weaknesses, and they would later learn to rely on his power, without which they cannot operate.
As we celebrate Simon and Jude, may we always, like them, have the courage to stand by the mission which the Lord has assigned to us. Amen.
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