SAINTS SIMON AND Jude, Apostle
Feast
Jude, also called Thaddaeus, is the apostle who at the Last Supper asked the Lord why he showed himself only to the disciples and not to the world. For many centuries he was scarcely venerated because people confused him with Judas Iscariot. He is the patron saint of lost and desperate causes.
Entrance Antiphon
These are the holy men whom the Lord chose in his own perfect love; to them he gave eternal glory.
Collect
O God, who by the blessed Apostles have brought us to acknowledge your name, graciously grant, through the intercession of Saints Simon and Jude, that the Church may constantly grow by increase of the peoples who believe in you. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
First reading: Ephesians 2:19-22
You are no longer aliens or foreign visitors: you are citizens like all the saints, and part of God’s household. You are part of a building that has the apostles and prophets for its foundations, and Christ Jesus himself for its main cornerstone. As every structure is aligned on him, all grow into one holy temple in the Lord; and you too, in him, are being built into a house where God lives, in the Spirit.
Psalm 18(19):2-5
R/ Their word goes forth through all the earth.
The heavens proclaim the glory of God, and the firmament shows forth the work of his hands.
Day unto day takes up the story and night unto night makes known the message.
No speech, no word, no voice is heard yet their span extends through all the earth, their words to the utmost bounds of the world.
Gospel Acclamation: cf. Te Deum
Alleluia, alleluia! We praise you, O God, we acknowledge you to be the Lord. The glorious company of the apostles praise you, O Lord. Alleluia!
Gospel: Luke 6:12-16
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.
Prayer over the Offerings
As we venerate the perpetual glory of the holy Apostles Simon and Jude, O Lord, we ask that you receive our prayers and lead us to worthy celebration of the sacred mysteries. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon: Jn 14: 23
Whoever loves me will keep my word, says the Lord; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.
Prayer after Communion
Having received this Sacrament, O Lord, we humbly implore you in the Holy Spirit, that what we do to honour the glorious passion of the Apostles Simon and Jude may keep us ever in your love. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
Jesus chooses twelve apostles from among the disciples. He matured his choice in prayer; a night spent listening to the voice of the Father and the whisper of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps, without this night of prayer, he would have called other disciples than these: men who were better educated, more faithful… But there was no job interview, no test. Simply the ratification of a choice made in perfect trust in the Father who is never mistaken in his plans. From choosing the brand of food we eat, to choosing our clothes or our job, we are constantly making decisions, big or small. Of course, we need to reflect, to evaluate the foreseeable consequences of our actions. But even more than that, it is good for us to make ourselves available to the signs that God gives us to light up our roads and crossroads.