A Holy Life

Saint Jude Thaddeus

Apostles, Patron of Hopeless and Desperate Cases

Feast day – October 28

St. Jude, known as Thaddaeus, was a brother of St. James the Less, and a relative of Our Saviour. St. Jude was one of the 12 Apostles of Jesus.

Ancient writers tell us that he preached the Gospel in Judea, Samaria, Idumaea, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Lybia. According to Eusebius, he returned to Jerusalem in the year 62, and assisted at the election of his brother, St. Simeon, as Bishop of Jerusalem.

He is an author of an epistle (letter) to the Churches of the East, particularly the Jewish converts, directed against the heresies of the Simonians, Nicolaites, and Gnostics. This Apostle is said to have suffered martyrdom in Armenia, which was then subject to Persia. The final conversion of the Armenian nation to Christianity did not take place until the third century of our era.

Jude was the one who asked Jesus at the Last Supper why He would not manifest Himself to the whole world after His resurrection. Little else is known of his life. Legend claims that he visited Beirut and Edessa; possibly martyred with St. Simon in Persia.

Jude is invoked in desperate situations because his New Testament letter stresses that the faithful should persevere in the environment of harsh, difficult circumstances, just as their forefathers had done before them. Therefore, he is the patron saint of desperate cases and his feast day is October 28. Saint Jude is not the same person as Judas Iscariot who betrayed Our Lord and despaired because of his great sin and lack of trust in God's mercy.

 

John 14:22-31

Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, "Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?" Jesus answered him,

 

Sources for this article were taken from:  www.Catholic.org

 

Prayer

O most holy apostle, St. Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the church honors and invokes you universally, as the patron of hopeless cases, of things almost despaired of. Pray for me, I am so helpless and alone.

Make use, I implore you, of 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, tribulations, and sufferings, particularly (state your 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 favor, to always honor you as my special and powerful patron, and to gratefully encourage devotion to you.

Amen.

True relative

Of Jesus and Mary,

I salute you through

This Sacred Heart of Jesus!

Through his Heart

I praise and thank God

For all the graces

He has bestowed upon you.

Humbly prostrate before you

I implore you,

Through His Heart,

To look down upon me

With compassion.

Despite my poor prayer;

Let not my trust

Be confounded!

To you God has granted

The privilege of

Aiding mankind

In the most desperate cases.

Oh, come to my aid

Until I can thank you in heaven.

All my life

I will be your grateful client

Until I can thank you in heaven.

Amen.

St. Jude, pray for us

And for all who invoke your aid.

Amen.

Saint Jude Thaddeus – Pray for us

Saint Jude Heals King Abgar of Edessa

Photograph by Loci B. Lenar

  

 

A Holy Life

Saint Simon

Apostles,

Feast day – October 28

Simon is mentioned on all four lists of the apostles. On two of them he is called "the Zealot." The Zealots were a Jewish sect that represented an extreme of Jewish nationalism. For them, the messianic promise of the Old Testament meant that the Jews were to be a free and independent nation. God alone was their king, and any payment of taxes to the Romans — the very domination of the Romans — was a blasphemy against God. No doubt some of the Zealots were the spiritual heirs of the Maccabees, carrying on their ideals of religion and independence. But many were the counterparts of modern terrorists. They raided and killed, attacking both foreigners and "collaborating" Jews. They were chiefly responsible for the rebellion against Rome which ended in the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. 

 

As in the case of all the apostles except for Peter, James and John, we are faced with men who are really unknown, and we are struck by the fact that their holiness is simply taken to be a gift of Christ. He chose some unlikely people: a former Zealot, a former (crooked) tax collector, an impetuous fisherman, two "sons of thunder" and a man named Judas Iscariot. It is a reminder that we cannot receive too often. Holiness does not depend on human merit, culture, personality, effort or achievement. It is entirely God's creation and gift. God needs no Zealots to bring about the kingdom by force. Jude, like all the saints, is the saint of the impossible: only God can create his divine life in human beings. And God wills to do so, for all of us.

 

 "Just as Christ was sent by the Father, so also he sent the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit. This he did so that, by preaching the gospel to every creature (cf. Mark 16:15), they might proclaim that the Son of God, by his death and resurrection, had freed us from the power of Satan (cf. Acts 26:18) and from death, and brought us into the kingdom of his Father" (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy)

 

Sources for this article were taken from:  www.AmericanCatholic.org

 

Prayer

O almighty God, who has built thy Church upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the head cornerstone; Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their doctrine, that we may be made an holy temple acceptable unto thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Saint Simon – Pray for us

 

Gospel Reflection

October 27, 2012

Saturday – Weekday – Year of Faith

by Msgr. Bong Lo (Chaplain, Chapel of Eucharistic Lord)

Lunch Mass at Megamall, Chapel of the Eucharistic Lord

Reading 1 Eph 4:7-16

Brothers and sisters: Grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ"s gift. Therefore, it says: He ascended on high and took prisoners captive; he gave gifts to men. What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended into the lower regions of the earth? The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.

And he gave some as Apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the Body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood to the extent of the full stature of Christ, so that we may no longer be infants, tossed by waves and swept along by every wind of teaching arising from human trickery, from their cunning in the interests of deceitful scheming. Rather, living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole Body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, with the proper functioning of each part, brings about the Body's growth and builds itself up in love.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 122:1-2, 3-4ab, 4cd-5

R. (1) Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
I rejoiced because they said to me,
"We will go up to the house of the LORD."
And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
Jerusalem, built as a city
with compact unity.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
According to the decree for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
In it are set up judgment seats,
seats for the house of David.
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

Gospel Lk 13:1-9

Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. He said to them in reply, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did! Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them? do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!"

And he told them this parable: "There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, 'For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?' He said to him in reply, 'Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.'"

HOMILY

In a Catechism class or Religion class, a teacher asks his students, "Since Noah spent 40 days and 40 nights inside the ark, do you think that he spent a lot of time fishing?" Syempre boring din doon ano, and anyway, naikutan sila ng dagat, ng tubig. And one student said, "No." Then the teacher said, "How sure are you that Noah did not spend many days fishing?" Sabi ng bata, "Hindi ho ba Teacher, noong pumasok si Noah sa ark, kasama niya ang lahat ng hayop, pero one pair each lang po? Eh dalawa lang 'yong worm na dala niya eh. So ang ibig sabihin po ay hindi siya pwedeng mag-fishing nang maraming araw kasi dalawa lang ang kanyang worm". Ang galing ng batang ito ano?

Now let me check with you, my sisters and brothers. Did you study your Catechism well? Did you study your religion well? Nowadays, people are fond of saying the word 'karma'. We hear people say "makarma ka sana". My sisters and brothers, 'karma' is not a Christian word. 'Karma' is not a Christian concept. It is not a Christian teaching. As good Christians, as good Catholics, from now on, never, never use the word 'karma' again. It is not biblical; it is not in accord with the teaching of the Bible. It is not in accord with the teaching of Christ. Huwag na huwag nyo nang ulitin ang salitang 'karma'. Pag inulit ninyo 'yan, makarma sana kayo. (laughs)

You see, 'karma' is originally a Hindu teaching. It means kung ano ang itinanim mo, iyon ang aanihin mo. Do good, and you will be blessed; do bad, and you will be cursed. It is also true; nasa teaching din natin 'yan. But there is a big difference. Kasi sa 'karma', it is automatic eh. One plus one equals two. One divided by one is equal to one. It is an impersonal force; an impersonal law of nature. But in the biblical and the Christian teaching, there is something personal, and that is the grace of God. The mercy of God. The love of God.

In the Gospel Reading of today, sabi ni Jesus sa kanyang mga contemporaries, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way, they were greater sinners than all other Galileans?....Or those eighteen people who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them?" Do you think they were more guilty? Kasi usually 'yan ang thinking ng 'karma'. When you see someone suffer, you say, "Ay siguro, pinarusahan 'yan." But one of the most important question in the Bible is this - Why is it that some good people suffer, and some bad people prosper? Read Psalm 1, and then the story of Job. It becomes a very difficult question - why do some good people suffer? Eh kung 'karma' 'yan, dapat good people prosper and bad people suffer. Pero hindi eh. Even very good people sometimes suffer, and very bad people sometimes prosper.

Halimbawa ang baha, hindi porke good ka, hindi ka na malulunod. Hindi porke bad ka, malulunod ka. O pag may lindol, hindi porke good ka, hindi ka mamamatay. Hindi porke bad ka, mamamatay ka. Walang kinikilala ang lindol. Walang kinikilala ang baha, good or bad. If you don't do your part, if you don't do your best, good ka man ay mamamatay ka rin. If you do your part, if you do your best, masama ka man, mabubuhay ka rin.

So you may ask, "Father, what is the use of being good, if that is the case?" My sisters and brothers, let us be good because God is good. Let us be faithful to Him, because He is faithful to us. Let us love Him, because He loves us. Our motivation as Christians, our purpose is not 'karma', but the love of God. Whether we are successful or not, whether we survive or not, is secondary. But we know that ultimately, the love of God will prevail. That is why in the second part of the Gospel reading Jesus said that we all must repent, we all must be converted, we all must bear fruit. Kailangang maging fruitful ang buhay natin kasi sa First Reading, narinig natin, He has blessed all of us. He has blessed each one of us. Just as the body has different parts, we all play different parts in the Church. We have different functions. Tayo ay may kanya-kanyang blessings. Tayo ay may kanya-kanyang gifts. And we have to do our part. We have to develop our blessings, and we have to extend service to one another. But doing this does not mean na walang masamang mangyayari sa atin. Posibleng may masamang mangyari. Pero mayroon tayong paniniwala. We continue doing what we have to do, because of love.

My dear sisters and brothers, it is not 'karma' that will determine our fate. It is God's love that determines our destiny. Let us respond to His love.