Saints Simon and Jude

R. (5a) Their message goes out through all the earth.
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day pours out the word to day,
and night to night imparts knowledge.
R. Their message goes out through all the earth.
Not a word nor a discourse
whose voice is not heard;
Through all the earth their voice resounds,
and to the ends of the world, their message.
R. Their message goes out through all the earth.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
We praise you, O God,
we acclaim you as Lord;
the glorious company of Apostles praise you.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

- For the pope, that he may lead the Church in faith, wisdom and mercy, we pray:

- For our bishops, that united with the pope they may see and attend to the great needs of the Church in our day, we pray:

- For those who are afraid to answer the call of God to follow Christ to serve the people of God, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord our God,
in the name of Jesus, your Son,
your ministers and people offer to you
the memorial of his death and resurrection.
Let us, sinful as we are, be your holy people,
that we may bear witness to your name
and be a believable sign to all
that your Son lives
and that you are our mighty God and Father,
now and for ever.

Prayer after Communion

Holy God and Father,
to us, your people on the way,
you have let your Son speak to us
his uplifting, inspiring word
and give us his food of strength.
Renew your Church in its leaders and members,
that we may live as we believe
and raise in our world a prophetic voice
that speaks with credibility
of justice, truth and unity.
May thus the world believe in your Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

Blessing

Jesus entrusts his own mission to weak and fallible human hand. "Entrusts," for he trusts them enough. With the help of the Holy Spirit we can do God's work. May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

REFLECTIONS

28 October 2025

Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles

Luke 6:12-19

Chosen to be his friends and witnesses

Today’s Gospel takes us to a decisive moment: Jesus spends the whole night in prayer to the Father, and then chooses twelve from among his disciples to be apostles. This choice is not a random selection. It is born of prayer, born of the Father’s will, and it shows us what discipleship really means.

First, Jesus calls them “to be with him.” Before being sent, they are invited to stay close. The first mission of every apostle—and of every Christian—is friendship with Jesus. He does not want servants who obey blindly, but friends who walk with him, share his joys, and even carry his Cross. Imagine: the Son of God desiring our friendship! This is the heart of our faith—that God wants us close and wants to stay close to us.

Second, he calls them to learn. To be a disciple is to be a lifelong learner. Saints Simon and Jude did not understand everything from the start, nor do we. They walked, stumbled, asked questions, argued, and slowly grew. That is our path too: to allow Jesus to teach us, day by day, how to love and forgive, how to serve and to hope.

Third, he calls them to be apostles—to be sent. An apostle is an ambassador, a living message of Christ. Not just through words, but through life itself. We are “samples” of Jesus, meant to show his face to the world.

Notice also who these apostles were: very ordinary men, without wealth or status, with different and even opposing backgrounds. Matthew the tax collector and Simon the Zealot should have been enemies, yet in Jesus they became brothers. This is a miracle of the Gospel: in him, opposites are reconciled.

On this feast of Simon and Jude, let us remember that we too are called—first to be with Jesus, then to learn from him, and finally to be sent out as his ambassadors. Ordinary as we are, Jesus trusts us to bear his love to the world. If we stay close to him, like the apostles, our lives too can become living pages of the Gospel.

Luke 6:12-16

Chosen and sent on a mission

The feast of Saints Simon and Jude reminds us of the rather silent role these apostles played in the early Church. Though little is known about their lives, their mission was pivotal in spreading the Gospel, particularly to regions of Egypt and Persia. St. Jude, known as the patron saint of desperate cases, holds a special place in the hearts of those who feel lost, reminding us of God’s presence even in the darkest moments of life.

The Gospel for day highlights three significant actions of Jesus: prayer, call, and mission. Before choosing the twelve apostles, Jesus retreats to the mountain and spends the entire night in prayer. For Jesus, prayer was about deep communion with the Father, ensuring that his actions aligned perfectly with the Father’s will.

The Lord himself sets an example of prayer and reminds us that in today’s busy world, where distractions abound, prayer in discerning God’s will is ever more essential as our grounding force. After this night of prayer, Jesus calls his apostles—ordinary men chosen for an extraordinary mission. This act of calling emphasises that apostleship is not something achieved through personal merits but a grace bestowed by God. Just as Simon and Jude were sent to the peripheries of their time, we too are called to engage with the marginalised and bring the light of the Gospel to those in despair.

In contemporary times, the Church continues its mission amidst global crises, from environmental degradation to wars and the plight of refugees. In a world of lost causes, we can invoke the intercession of St. Jude, trusting that God can work through us to bring hope where it seems impossible. Just as the apostles were sent forth, we are commissioned today to live out our faith actively, grounded in prayer, called by Christ, and sent on a mission to heal and transform the world.

Is that my name He calls?

It is early morning, and the first light of day has just slightly broken. The earth remains still, as if unwilling to wake up from its stupor. But you feel renewed after a good night’s sleep, ready for the start of another day. Feel the morning calm with the freshness of a gentle breeze.

As you prepare to get up, you see the silhouette of someone coming from afar towards you. As he nears you, you recognize him to be Jesus. “He must have again spent the whole night in prayer; that could be why we did not see him after supper last night. We were very tired walking the whole day with him yesterday. He healed many sick people, as we tried to control the crowd from crushing him. We asked him to rest and eat, but he did not seem tired or hungry, as if the people energized him. He only had compassion for the people. How can anyone live like him: walking, preaching, and healing during the day, and praying alone the whole night?

“Now, he is calling out some names, ‘Simon, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon, Judas son of James, Judas Iscariot…’ Wait, is that my name he calls? Yes, he also calls me among the twelve.”