Saints Simon and Judas, Saint of the day for 28 October

Saint of the day for October 28th
(XNUMXst century)

The story of Saints Simon and Jude

Jude is named after Luke and Atti. Matteo and Marco call him Taddeo. It is not mentioned elsewhere in the Gospels, except of course where all the apostles are mentioned. Scholars believe that he is not the author of the Epistle of Jude. In fact, Jude had the same name as Judas Iscariot. Evidently due to the misfortune of that name, it was shortened to "Jude" in English.

Simon is mentioned in all four lists of the apostles. In two of them he is called "the Zealot". The Zealots were a Jewish sect that represented an extreme of Jewish nationalism. For them, the Old Testament messianic promise meant that the Jews were to be a free and independent nation. God alone was their king, and any payment of taxes to the Romans - Roman rule itself - was a blasphemy against God. No doubt some zealots were the spiritual heirs of the Maccabees, carrying on their ideals of religion and independence. But many were the counterparts of modern terrorists. They raided and killed, attacking both foreigners and Jewish "collaborators". They were mainly responsible for the rebellion against Rome which ended with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD

Reflection

As in the case of all the apostles except Peter, James and John, we are faced with truly unknown men, and we are struck by the fact that their holiness is simply considered a gift from Christ. He chose some unlikely people: a former zealot, a former (dishonest) tax collector, a fiery fisherman, two "sons of thunder" and a man named Judas Iscariot.

It's a reminder that we can't get too often. Holiness does not depend on human merit, culture, personality, effort or achievement. It is entirely God's creation and gift. God does not need zealots to bring about the kingdom by force. Judas, like all saints, is the saint of the impossible: only God can create his divine life in human beings. And God wants to do it, for all of us.