Feast of Sts Simon & Jude – Apostles

Fr Paul reads the Gospel for this feast from Luke (6:12-19), in which Jesus chooses the twelve apostles.

In this Gospel, Fr Paul says, we hear that Jesus spent a night in prayer with his Father and he does so because he is making the all-important decision of calling twelve from among his disciples – twelve who he calls ‘apostles’.  Today, we celebrate the feast of two of them – Simon and Jude.

Simon, as we have just heard in the Gospel, was eleventh on the list. He is known as ‘Simon the Zealot’ and we know little else about him.

Jude, who is also called Thaddeus, is the apostle who asked Jesus at the Last Supper why he showed himself just to the Apostles and not to the whole world. Jude in the early life of the Church was often confused with Judas Iscariot. Jude is also the patron saint of lost and desperate causes.

So, as we celebrate their feasts today and for our reflection, Fr Paul says we might ask that St Simon and St Jude pray for us.