Reflection on the Readings of the Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Wednesday 28th October, 2020
Texts: Eph. 2:19-22; Ps. 19:1-4; Luke 6:12-19
Today is the feast of saints Simon and Jude. As we celebrate them today the Church selects readings that will help us to understand the significance of the apostles to our faith. Jesus chose them after praying all night. Jesus chose the apostles on the mountain, which signify the place of encounter with God. The apostles were to rule and adjucate the new people of God. The apostles are like the twelve sons of Jacob that formed the foundation of the people of God. The apostles form the foundation of the new people of God. This means we are their descendants in faith. St. Paul, in the first reading, says, "You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets". The foundation is the Tradition that the apostles left for us; it is about the heritage and legacy we received from the apostles and which have become our light, guide and ways of life. St. Paul reminds us that we are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God's household if we live in accord with the apostolic tradition. The Apostolic Tradition is the living transmission of God's words, with the help of the Holy Spirit, by the apostles through their words and ways of life (cf. CCC no. 78). In the apostolic Tradition we see how the apostles lived the words of God and expounded it. The Church says, "Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture make up a single sacred deposit of the Word of God, in which, as in a mirror, the pilgrim Church contemplates God, the source of all her riches" (CCC no. 97).
Just as Jesus Christ is the subject of Sacred Scripture so also the Sacred Tradition has Jesus Christ has its cornerstone. Hence, St. Paul says, "Christ Jesus himself, being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord". Hence, the Church says, "Sacred Tradition and sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing, and move towards the same goal" (CCC no. 80).
The gospel reading tells us that, after Jesus had chosen his appostles, he came down with them. When Jesus Christ came down with the apostles, he revealed himself to them in mighty works and power. It is said, "And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came forth from him and healed them all." The apostles later proclaimed these mighty works and power of Jesus Christ to the whole world. The psalm reminds us of this proclamation when it says, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the work of his hands." Through the apostles the message reached our land and we are to re-echo it for the next generations and the message continues till his kingdom come.
The two apostles we are celebrating today preached the gospel of Christ in Mesopotamia and Persia. Simon is also believed to have preached the gospel at Edessa and in Egypt. It is now our own turn to re-echo the gospel; we are not to proclaim our own gospel but the gospel handed down to us by the apostles.
Dear friends, today, we are called to value, cherish, appreciate and study Apostolic Tradition because it is key to our faith.
Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you for the legacy of your apostles, grant that we may not stray from the faith they handed down to us. Amen.
Rev. Fr. Andrew Olowomuke
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