St. Simon and St. Jude

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  Amen.

Today we are continuing our journey through saints and feasts.  As we get further into this journey I will print out summaries of each of the names so that you can look back and reflect on each of them.

Today we are exploring St. Simon and St. Jude.  St. Simon and St. Jude share a single entry in For All the Saints.

Saint Simon and Saint Jude 28 October

Apostles — Holy Day

October

Today we commemorate Saint Simon and Saint Jude, whose names appear in the New Testament on every list of the twelve apostles.

Simon was called “the Zealot,” which suggests that he once belonged to a Jewish resistance movement. Animated by religious fervour, the Zealots used any means, even terror, to overthrow Roman rule and revive Jewish independence. Simon originally may have followed Jesus in hopes that he would “restore the kingdom to Israel.”

Jude “the son of James” was also called Thaddeus. One of the Letters included in the New Testament is ascribed to him; and we hear his voice in Saint John’s account of the Last Supper, where he is distinguished as “the other Judas, not Iscariot.” Judas Iscariot was the disciple who betrayed Jesus, and the fact that Jude shared the traitor’s name made Christians reluctant to ask for his prayers. For this reason Jude is considered the patron saint of what is shunned by the world, especially lost causes and those who suffer from incurable diseases.

The western Church remembers Simon and Jude together because, in the seventh or eighth century, the church of Rome acquired some relics of both apostles and placed them in a single shrine. October twenty-eighth is probably the anniversary of the dedication of this shrine.

With so little information to go on, our commemoration of Simon and Jude may be compared to their patronage of lost causes and hopeless cases. It is a little victory against the odds of history. For Christ is often made known by deeds which are recorded nowhere else but in the eternal remembrance of God; and by honouring Simon and Jude today we share in God’s own mindfulness of their apostolic zeal.

There isn’t a lot to go on for Simon and Jude.  What would it mean for us to dedicate our new parish to the patron saints of lost causes?  What would we even call the parish?

The second question is easier.  We would have several possible names to choose from: The Parish of St. Simon and St. Jude, The Parish of St. Simon, The Parish of St. Jude, The Parish of St. Thadeus, even The Parish of St. Judas or The Parish of the Lost?  Probably the best would be to just stick with St. Simon and St. Jude and keep them together like they are in our calendar.

But what would it mean for us to dedicate ourselves to lost causes?  We could see it as part of the reality of rural churches throughout Canada.  As our churches get smaller and older and many of them close because not enough people are coming, it would be easy to see the church as a lost cause.  I don’t believe this is true.  We are in a difficult time but we are still being called.  Just by searching for a new name, we are showing that we have life and we believe in our future.  So we can’t choose this name because we think we are a lost cause.

I think that if we were to dedicate ourselves to the patron saints of lost causes, we would have two major callings.  We would need to be looking for that shred of hope lost in the darkness of despair.  When others see a hopeless situation, we would be called to look for a new way forward, a different direction that lets in a new shaft of light.  And when there truly is no hope, we would have to see ourselves as a light in that darkness.  I think that we would need to be going into those places where pain and suffering are at their worst, where hope of recovery is either unlikely or impossible.  We would be called to go there and bring, not hope for a miracle cure, but comfort and companionship at the end of a journey.

Once again, we have a theme which describes an important part of Christian discipleship.  The Gospel of Matthew is quite clear about this.

“'Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink?  And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?' And the king will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.'” (Matthew 25:34-40 NRSV)

Just like the names we looked at last week, St. Simon and St. Jude would be a powerful name which could set us on the road to a future of purpose and mission in our new parish.  These saints would call us to a life of discipleship which should be part of our basic Christian lives.  I continue to hope that this decision will not be an easy one.  It should require prayer and discussion and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  So I pray:

Holy and Gracious God, be with us as we do our best to discern where you are calling us as a new parish.  Give us your support and your guidance that we may know our part in your purpose here in our communities and how you wish us to show our love for you in our lives.  This we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.