20251028 ORDINARY APOSTLES BUT STILL APOSTLES
28 October 2025, Tuesday, Ss Simon & Jude, Apostles
irst reading |
Ephesians 2:19-22 |
In Christ you are no longer aliens, but citizens like us
You are no longer aliens or foreign visitors: you are citizens like all the saints, and part of God’s household. You are part of a building that has the apostles and prophets for its foundations, and Christ Jesus himself for its main cornerstone. As every structure is aligned on him, all grow into one holy temple in the Lord; and you too, in him, are being built into a house where God lives, in the Spirit.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 18(19):2-5 |
Their word goes forth through all the earth.
The heavens proclaim the glory of God,
and the firmament shows forth the work of his hands.
Day unto day takes up the story
and night unto night makes known the message.
Their word goes forth through all the earth.
No speech, no word, no voice is heard
yet their span extends through all the earth,
their words to the utmost bounds of the world.
Their word goes forth through all the earth.
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Te Deum |
Alleluia, alleluia!
We praise you, O God,
we acknowledge you to be the Lord.
The glorious company of the apostles praise you, O Lord.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 6:12-19 |
Jesus chooses his twelve apostles
Jesus went out into the hills to pray; and he spent the whole night in prayer to God. When day came he summoned his disciples and picked out twelve of them; he called them ‘apostles’: Simon whom he called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot who became a traitor.
He then came down with them and stopped at a piece of level ground where there was a large gathering of his disciples with a great crowd of people from all parts of Judaea and from Jerusalem and from the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon who had come to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. People tormented by unclean spirits were also cured, and everyone in the crowd was trying to touch him because power came out of him that cured them all.
ORDINARY APOSTLES BUT STILL APOSTLES
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Eph 2:19-22; Lk 6:12-19]
Today, we celebrate the Feast of Saints Simon and Jude. Why do we celebrate these two saints together? What do they have in common? Firstly, we note that in the list of the Twelve Apostles, they are always placed next to each other: “Simon whom he called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot who became the traitor.” In truth, we do not have much information about them. They are among the least known of the Twelve Apostles. Perhaps for this reason, they were placed near the end of the list, just before the apostle who betrayed our Lord, Judas Iscariot. Among the Twelve, the most well-known and often highlighted in the Scriptures are Peter, James, and John, followed by Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew the tax collector, and James, son of Alphaeus.
But that is the usual way we see them — a human and worldly way of classifying people. We tend to give prominence to the better-known apostles and saints based on the work they do and how often they are mentioned or publicised. We assume that those who receive more attention are more important in the eyes of God. Although it is true that they had significant roles to play in the economy of salvation and in the Church, it is just like those of us who are leaders. We have been chosen among others to hold office. Yet, we do not always deem those who are appointed to be the best, as if there were no others who could do better.
Appointments and positions, however, are God’s prerogative, not ours to choose. The grace He gives to each of us is different. In his Letter to the Ephesians, St Paul wrote, “The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.” (Eph 4:11-13) Writing to the Corinthians, St Paul said, “All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.” (1 Cor 12:11)
So too for the apostles. We do not know the criteria by which Jesus chose His apostles. Indeed, examining the list of the Twelve, we know they were ordinary men — not wealthy, influential, famous, or highly educated. Writing to the Corinthians, St Paul reminded them, “Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God.” (1 Cor 1:26-29) It is clear that if we are called to serve the Lord, it is not dependent on our intellectual brilliance, social connections, or status. In fact, God chooses the ordinary to manifest His power and glory.
Notably, the apostles were a diverse group of people, with different ideological backgrounds and temperaments, not to mention different occupations and causes. Matthew was a tax collector — hated by revolutionaries — and Simon the Zealot, whose feast we celebrate today, was most likely a nationalist or one who sought to defend the Jewish identity. How could they live in peace together as the Twelve or even collaborate in the mission of our Lord? Yet Jesus chose them, knowing that His grace and love would unite them for a common cause and mission.
Truly, in the mind of God, they were all apostles, each given different gifts and functions, but all for the good of the Church. It does not matter what role or position we hold in the eyes of the world. What is more important is that we live out our calling. In the case of the apostles, they are the foundation of the Church, as St Paul wrote, “You are part of a building that has the apostles and prophets for its foundations, and Christ Jesus himself for its main cornerstone.” The Church of God is founded on Jesus as the cornerstone, but it rests on twelve pillars — the Twelve Apostles who handed on the apostolic faith to the Church. Our faith, to be authentic, must be traced to their witness to Christ and their teaching. Thus, it is not one apostle alone but the apostolic college that guarantees the truth of the faith. This is why the Catholic Church continues to teach that the Magisterium rests on the College of Bishops, who are successors of the apostles, teaching in unity with Peter as the head of the apostolic college.
At the end of the day, the structure exists for one goal — the building of God’s family. Regardless of our position in the Church, what matters most is that we belong to God’s household: “You are no longer aliens or foreign visitors: you are citizens like all the saints, and part of God’s household.” In the family, everyone is important to each other. Happiness and joy come when our family is united in love and mutual service. This unity is possible only when we make use of the structure given to the Church for our spiritual growth in unity with the Lord and with one another: “As every structure is aligned on him, all grow into one holy temple in the Lord; and you too, in him, are being built into a house where God lives, in the Spirit.”
Indeed, the secret to fulfilling our unique role in the Church is to be aligned with the Spirit of Christ through intense prayer, just as Jesus was throughout His ministry. It is significant that in today’s Gospel, the evangelist underscores that Jesus prayed the entire night before choosing the Twelve Apostles: “Jesus went out into the hills to pray, and he spent the whole night in prayer to God. When day came, he summoned his disciples and picked out twelve of them; he called them apostles.” At other times, the evangelists simply mentioned that Jesus prayed, but here they emphasise that He spent the whole night in prayer. Thus, Jesus must have truly consulted His Father before selecting those whom He called to be His apostles. We too must always remain aligned with our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are called to learn from Simon the Zealot and Jude Thaddeus. Both played minor roles in the Gospel. Jude is distinguished from Judas Iscariot, as both share the same name. Jude is mentioned in the Gospel of John when he asked the Lord, “Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.” (Jn 14:22-24) This remains an important question even today because it is our concern too — why Jesus is not revealed to everyone. The answer is the same now as then: we come to see Jesus when we open our hearts to Him, and He will live in us.
We can be sure that Simon and Jude took the words of Jesus seriously because both were passionate about the mission the Lord gave them. Tradition tells us that they went east from Palestine into what was then Persia to bring the Gospel to the nations and that both died as martyrs. They were not concerned about making names for themselves; they were concerned only with proclaiming the Gospel to all nations. In a special way, we also pray to St Jude, who is known as the patron saint of hopeless causes. Perhaps this is in contrast to Judas Iscariot, who lost hope in himself and in God. On the contrary, St Jude reminds us that for God, there is no lost soul, for He comes for the lost sheep. We are all important to Him. So, like Simon the Zealot, let us learn from them what it means to be passionate for lost souls and faithful to the Gospel, even unto death. This is what makes us truly apostles.
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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