St Simon and St Jude

ST SIMON AND ST JUDE

"And ye also shall bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning." (John 15.27)

The feast of St Simon and St Jude is on 28 October.

Who was Simon? Who was Jude? And what is their relevance to us today?

Unlike many of the apostles who were with Jesus 'from the beginning', very little is known about either of these apostles. except that they are both named in the list of the twelve apostles as contained in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Like.

Simon is called the 'Zealot' to distinguish him from Simon Peter. This probably means that he belonged to a nationalistic resistance movement opposed to the occupying Roman forces in Palestine in the first century.

Because there was only a small Roman force in Palestine to maintain peace, they tended to pursue the path of least resistance, and therefore did not object to the Jews practising their own religion, provided it did not disturb the peace. Most of the Jews appear to have been happy with this situation. However, there were some who objected, not so much on religious grounds as on political grounds.. These political fanatics, sometimes called 'zealots', were zealous in their determination to overthrow the occupying Roman forces. They were the equivalent of our freedom fighters.

It is good to know that such a highly politically motivated person was not excluded by Jesus from becoming one of his early followers. However, there is no evidence to suggest that he ceased such activity, either before or after the resurrection.

I often feel that it is a pity that he could not have applied that same zeal to proclaiming the Christian faith, for then we would have known more about him.

The church needed then, and still needs today, men and women who are enthusiastic about their faith, for such enthusiasm attracts others.

Sadly, all too often we are what the author of the Book of Revelation calls 'lukewarm' as regards the practice of our faith. We blow neither hot nor cold. No wonder the world does not always take us seriously.

And what of St Jude?

Jude is described as being the son of James, whilst the Letter of Jude describes him as being the brother of James. It is suggested that he is also called 'Thaddeus' since that name also occurs in the lists of the apostles. Or it might have been his surname.

Owing to the similarity of his name to that of Judas Iscariot, Jude is rarely invoked in prayer, and it seems likely that, because of this, intercession through Jude has often been seen as a last resort. Hence he has become known as the patron saint of lost causes.

(Incidentally, it is unlikely that the letter which bears his name in the New Testament was written by him since it dates from 70-80 AD or later.)

We may not always call upon Jude when we are desperate, but we certainly call upon God when all else appears to fail, and expect him to help us. We expect God to be sitting there, waiting for us to turn to him for help, even though we may have turned our backs upon him, time and time again, whilst we have pursued alternative solutions to our problems.

So Jude reminds me, never to take God for granted. He is always there, in good times and in bad, offering us his loving support, if only we would turn to him.

A sixth century tradition suggests that Simon originally went off to Egypt to preach, and later joined Jude, who had undertaken a mission to Mesopotamia. They went together to Persia where they were both martyred.

So we give thanks for both Simon and Jude who bore witness to Jesus, because they had been 'with him from the beginning'.

ln particular, we pray that we may be enthusiastic about our faith and never take God for granted by using him as a last resort.