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These two apostles of Jesus are honored on the same day. St. Simon was called "the zealous one" because he had so much devotion to the Jewish law. Once he had been called by the Lord to be an apostle, he gave his heart and his energy to preaching the Gospel. With the other apostles, he received the Holy Spirit on the first Pentecost. Then it is believed that he went to Egypt to preach the faith. Afterward he went to Persia with the apostle St. Jude, and the two of them were martyred there.
St. Jude is sometimes called Thaddeus, which means "the brave one." It was he who asked the Lord a famous question at the Last Supper. Jesus had said: "He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him." And St. Jude wanted to know: "Lord, how is it that you are about to manifest yourself to us and not to the world?" Jesus gave him the answer: "If anyone love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him."
St. Jude is sometimes called the saint of "desperate or impossible cases." People pray to him when things seem hopeless. Often God answers their prayers through the intercession of this beloved apostle.
Simon was known as the "Zealous," and Jude was called the "Brave." Let us pray for their missionary courage and love in our own lives.
You can visit the shrine of Saint Jude in the Augustinian Church in Middle Street.
