Day: October 28, 2019

Posted in CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, ON the SAINTS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on DISCIPLESHIP, QUOTES on EVANGELISATION, QUOTES on MISSION, SAINT of the DAY, The APOSTLES & EVANGELISTS

Thought for the Day – 28 October – As the Father Sent Me, so I am Sending You

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 28 October – Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles and Martyrs, Gospel: Luke 6:12-19

As the Father Sent Me, so I am Sending You

Saint Cyril of Alexandria (376-444)
Bishop, Father & Doctor of the Church

An excerpt from his Commentary on the Gospel of John

Our Lord Jesus Christ has appointed certain men to be guides and teachers of the world and stewards of His divine mysteries.   Now He bids them to shine out like lamps and to cast out their light, not only over the land of the Jews but over every country under the sun and over people scattered in all directions and settled in distant lands.   That man has spoken truly who said:  No one takes honour upon himself, except the one who is called by God, for it was our Lord Jesus Christ who called His own disciples before all others to a most glorious apostolate.   These holy men became the pillar and mainstay of the truth and Jesus said that He was sending them just as the Father had sent Him.

By these words, He is making clear, the dignity of the apostolate and the incomparable glory of the power given to them but He is also, it would seem, giving them a hint about the methods they are to adopt, in their apostolic mission.   For if Christ thought it necessary to send out His intimate disciples in this fashion, just as the Father had sent Him, then surely, it was necessary, that they, whose mission was to be patterned on that of Jesus, should see exactly why the Father had sent the Son.   And so Christ interpreted the character of His mission to us in a variety of ways.   Once He said – I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.   And then at another time He said – I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will but the will of Him who sent me.   For God sent His Son into the world, not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him.

Accordingly, in affirming that they are sent by Him just as He was sent by the Father, Christ sums up in a few words the approach they themselves should take to their ministry.   From what He said, they would gather that it was their vocation to call sinners to repentance, to heal those who were sick, whether in body or spirit, to seek in all their dealing, never to do their own will but the will of Him who sent them and, as far as possible, to save the world by their teaching.

Surely it is in all these respects, that we find His holy disciples striving to excel.   To ascertain this is no great labour, a single reading of the Acts of the Apostles or of Saint Paul’s writings is enough.

Sts Simon and Jude, Pray for Us!sts-simon-and-jude-pray-for-us-28-oct-2018 and 2019.jpg

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Quote/s of the Day – 28 October – Feast of Saints Simon and Jude

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 28 October – Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles and Martyrs, Gospel: Luke 6:12-19

“Simon was worlds apart from Matthew, who, on the contrary, had an activity behind him as a tax collector that was frowned upon as entirely impure.   This shows that Jesus called His disciples and collaborators, without exception, from the most varied social and religious backgrounds.

It was people who interested Him, not social classes or labels!   And the best thing is that in the group of His followers, despite their differences, they all lived side by side, overcoming imaginable difficulties, indeed, what bound them together, was Jesus Himself, in whom they all found themselves united with one another.

This is clearly a lesson for us who are often inclined to accentuate differences and even contrasts, forgetting, that in Jesus Christ, we are given the strength to get the better of our continual conflicts.

Let us also bear in mind, that the group of the Twelve, is the prefiguration of the Church, where there must be room for all charisms, peoples and races, all human qualities that find their composition and unity in communion with Jesus.”

Pope Benedict XVI

Catechesis on Saints Simon and Jude
General Audience
Saint Peter’s Square
Wednesday, 11 October 2006let us bear in the mind that the group of the twelve - sts simon and jude - pope benedict 28 oct 2019.jpg

“Woe to them!
They followed the way of Cain …
These are blemishes …
as they carouse fearlessly
and look after themselves.
They are waterless clouds
blown about by winds,
fruitless trees in late autumn,
twice dead and uprooted.
They are like wild waves of the sea,
foaming up their shameless deeds,
wandering stars,
for whom the gloom of darkness
has been reserved forever.”

Jude 1:11a,12 & 13jude 1 11,12,13 woem to them they followed the way of cain 28 oct 2019.jpg

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One Minute Reflection – 28 October – “The weakness of God is stronger than all men”

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 28 October – Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles and Martyrs, Gospel: Luke 6:12-19

And when it was day, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostle … Luke 6:13luke 6 13 he called his disciples and chose twleve - 28 oct 2019.jpg

REFLECTION – “Saint Paul said:  “The weakness of God is stronger than all men” (1Cor 1:25).   It is clear from this too that the gospel is divine.   For whence did it strike twelve unlettered men to attempt such great enterprises, men who were living in marshes, or rivers, in desert places, who had never perhaps gone into a city or the public square? Whence did it strike them to array themselves against the whole world?   That they were cowardly and unmanly, he who has written about them shows, inasmuch as he does not even deprecate nor try to gloss over their failings.   This, in itself, is a powerful proof of the truth.   What then does this man say about them?   That after the innumerable miracles they had seen Christ work, when He was taken prisoner some fled, while the one who remained, although he was head over the rest, denied Him.

Here were men who failed to stand up to the Jews when Christ was alive.   Yet when He died and was buried, they arrayed themselves against the whole world…  Would they not have said to themselves:  “What is this?   He had not strength to save Himself, will He protect us?   He did not defend Himself when He was alive, will He reach out His hand to us, now He is dead?   When He was alive He did not conquer a single nation—shall we convince the whole world by speaking His name?”…   Hence it is clear that, if they had not seen Him risen and received this mighty proof of His power, they would never have risked such a gamble.” … St John Chrysostom (c.345-407) Priest at Antioch then Bishop of Constantinople, Father & Doctor of the Church – Homily on the 1st letter to the Corinthians 4, 3here were men who failed to stand up to the jews - st john chrysostom feast of simon and jude 28 oct 2019.jpg

PRAYER – Lord God, You taught us to call upon Your name, through the preaching of the Apostles.   Open our eyes each day, grant that we may see Jesus Your Son at our side, open our ears that we may hear His voice, open our mouths, that we may beg forgiveness and proclaim the good news, as we follow the way Your Son carved out for us.   At the intercession of Sts Simon and Jude, may Your Church continue to grow and to hope in Your love.   We make our prayer through Jesus our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God forever, amen.sts simon and jude pray for us 28 oct 2019

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Our Morning Offering – 28 October – One Joyful Hymn of Praise must Greet

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Our Morning Offering – 28 October – Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles and Martyrs

Come, let us worship the Lord, the King of Apostles.

One Joyful Hymn of Praise must Greet
Morning Hymn
On the Feast of Sts Simon and Jude
From the Breviary
The Benedictines of Saint Cecilia’s Abbey, Ryde, UK

One joyful hymn of praise must greet
Apostles whom we always find
Together in the Gospel’s page,
By faithful love and zeal combined.

To follow Christ in early youth
Was surely Simon’s joy and pride,
Before the Zealot would set forth
To preach His Name both far and wide.

Saint Jude, a kinsman of our Lord,
In heart and mind yet closer still,
Your words remain until this day
With hope and love our souls to fill.

As brothers both in life and death,
A martyr’s crown was your reward,
As shining witnesses to truth
And victims worthy of your Lord.

O gleaming stars in heaven’s light
Help us to tread our thorny way,
That with our faith alert and strong
We may attain to glory’s day.

Be praised the Father evermore,
The Holy Spirit and the Son,
May we rejoice before God’s throne
Eternally when life is done.
Amenone joyful hymn of praise must greet hymn for the feast of sts simon and jude 28 oct 2019.jpg

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, PATRONAGE - IMPOSSIBLE CAUSES, PRAYERS to the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, The APOSTLES & EVANGELISTS

Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles of Christ – 28 October

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Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles of Christ – 28 October

Today the Church celebrates the feast of Sts Simon and Jude whose names occur together in the Canon of the Mass and are also celebrated on the same day.   These two Apostles have been linked in name since the early days of Christianity and some believe that this is because they were relatives of Jesus.

SOD-1028-SaintsSimonandJude-790x480
San Simón | Jusepe de Ribera / Image: Saint Jude Thaddeus | Georges de La Tour

St Simon in the Gospels is called “the Zealot” and this may indicate that he belonged to that military group of Jews called the Zealots, the last of whom committed suicide on Masada rather than surrender to the Roman legions.   Legend has Simon evangelising the area around Edessa in Syria, where later a great school of theology arose. It is also said, that after preaching in Egypt, he joined St Jude in Mesopotamia and that they both went as missionaries to Persia and were martyred there.   Undoubtedly, their names are linked also because of this association.

st simon the zealot apostle.jpg
St Simon

Jude was most certainly a cousin of Jesus and is mentioned in the lists of the “brothers of the Lord.”   In Luke he is called Jude and in Matthew and Mark, ‘Thaddeus’ and is considered to be the brother of James, the first Bishop of Jerusalem and the leader of the early Christian community there – this is James the Lesser, not the brother of St John.   He is the author of the Epistle of Jude in the New Testament, one of those called the ‘Catholic Epistles.’   It is believed that the early translators of the New Testament from Greek into English, sought to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot and subsequently abbreviated his forename.   In iconography, , St Jude is often shown with an image of his cousin, our Lord Jesus and a tongue of fire over his head.st jude with image of jesus.jpg

At the Last Supper, it was Jude who asked the Lord Jesus, why He did not manifest Himself to the rest of the world and Jesus answered that he and the Father would visit all those who loved Him, saying – “We will come to him and make our abode with him.”sts jude and simon

Jude is the patron of ‘hopeless cases’ and devotion to him, as the advocate of impossible causes, is widespread throughout the Church.   So why is St Jude Thaddaeus the patron saint of desperate causes?   The traditional reason is rather simple – When one hears the name Judas (Latin and Greek) or even Jude (English), one immediately thinks of Judas Iscariot who betrayed our Lord.   Therefore, a person had to be desperate to invoke his name.   Being so seldom invoked and reverenced, St Jude is ready and waiting to hear the prayers of those who call upon him.   Ironically, he is probably the Apostle who is invoked the most in prayer and the most memorialised in churches, with statues and stained glass windows or other artworks.

It is a beautiful tradition, associated with prayer to St Jude, for his intercession, to leave a copy of the prayer in a Church, or before his Statue, Picture or Shrine, for someone else in great need, to find.   The prayer is usually prayed as a Novena.

Prayer to St Jude
Patron of Impossible Causes

Most holy Apostle, St Jude,
faithful servant and friend of Jesus,
the Church honours and invokes you universally,
as the patron of hopeless causes,
of things almost despaired of.
Pray for me, I am so helpless and alone.
Help me, I implore you,
by that particular privilege given to you,
to bring visible and speedy help
where help is almost despaired of.
Come to my assistance in this great need,
that I may receive the consolation
and help of Heaven in all my necessities,
tribulation and sufferings,
particularly ………………… (state request)
and that I may praise God with you
and all the elect forever.
I promise, O blessed St Jude,
to be ever mindful of this great favour,
to always honour you as my special and powerful patron
and to gratefully encourage devotion to you.
Amenprayer to st jude - patron of impossible causes - 28 oct 2019.jpg

Posted in FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, SAINT of the DAY, The APOSTLES & EVANGELISTS

Feast of the Apostles, Saints Simon and Jude and Memorials of the Saints – 28 October

Posted on by AnaStpaul

St Jude Thaddeus Apostle (Feast)

St Simon the Apostle/the Zealot (Feast)

Feast of Saints Simon and Jude – Apostles of Christ:
https://anastpaul.com/2018/10/28/feast-of-the-apostles-sts-simon-and-jude-28-october/

Lord of Miracles/Señor de los Milagros de Nazarenas:   A mid-17th-century painting of the Crucifixion that is venerated in Lima, Peru and its celebration involves one of the largest processions in the world.

It was painted by an unnamed African taken to Peru as a slave from what is now Angola. Above the Cross is the Holy Spirit and God the Father.   Below and to the right of Jesus, is His mother, the Virgin Mary with her heart pierced by a sword of sorrow.   Kneeling and weeping at the foot of the cross is St Mary Magdalene.

The name originated on 13 November 1655 when everything around it was destroyed in an earthquake that left the painting standing and undamaged. Christ is shown enduring the pain of crucifixion.
Every year in October, hundreds of thousands of devotees from all races and economic backgrounds participate in a procession honouring the image through the streets of Lima.   Boulevards are decorated in purple on 18,19 and the final Feast 28 October to celebrate the Lord of Miracles.578px-sec3b1ordelosmilagrosnazarenas crusifixion mary and john at the cross.jpg

St Abdias of Babylon
St Abraham of Ephesus
St Alberic of Stavelot
St Anastasia the Elder
St Anglinus of Stavelot
St Cyril of Rome
St Cyrilla of Rome
St Diomedes the Younger
St Dorbhene of Iona
St Eadsin of Canterbury
St Elius of Lyon
St Faro of Meaux
St Ferrutius
St Fidelis of Como
St Genesius of Thiers
Bl Germain of Talloires
St Gioan Dat
St Godwin of Stavelot
St Maria Ascuncion
St Remigius of Lyons
St Rodrigo Aguilar Aleman
St Salvius of Amiens
—
Martyrs of Avila – 3 saints: Two sisters and a brother who, during a period of persecution, fled Talavera de la Reina, Spain, were caught and executed. Martyrs: Christeta, Sabina and Vincent. 303 in Avila, Spain.

Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Claudio Julían García San Román
• Blessed Maria Asuncion