Word to the Wise
Wednesday, October 28, 2020 - Oct. 28 - Sts. Simon and Jude, Apostles
[Eph 2:19-22 and Luke 6:12-19]You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone. [Ephesians]
Most of us don't pay much attention to the foundation of a building since it is usually hidden by the superstructure. However, if the building starts to sag or crack, as it might in an earthquake or hurricane, the importance of the foundation becomes very apparent. The image of the foundation appears at the end of the Sermon on the Mount [Matt. 7:24-27] when Jesus says that those who listen to his words and act on them are wise. The Book of Revelation speaks of the "new Jerusalem" with foundation stones on which are written the names of the twelve apostles. [Rev. 21:14] The Letter to the Ephesians today speaks of the "foundation of the Apostles and prophets." It's all a very noble and solid vision.
We stand on what the apostles stood on - the person of Jesus Christ and his teachings. Jesus did not choose perfect people as his closest disciples. Simon the Zealot appears to have been a political extremist. Jude has managed to survive in the affections of the faithful as the patron saint of hopeless causes - which probably could include all of us at some point or another. (I have witnessed that affection in the four St. Jude Novenas that I have preached in the past - two in Chicago and two in New Orleans.)
In celebrating the feast of these two apostles, we celebrate them as a rock foundation of faith but also as a sign that we believers share humanity with them in all our own struggles. Their faith was worth their life to them. How much is it worth to us? AMEN