Click here for today’s Scripture readings.
Ephesians 2:19-22
Luke 6:12-16
In our first reading this morning Paul states that regardless of one’s background, in the Church of Christ there are to be no strangers. By reason of our baptism we are united with the saints and given full membership in the “household of God”.
The capstone of this household of God is none other than Jesus Christ himself. He holds it all together. And unlike a mere physical building, the household of God grows — and what emerges is a “holy temple sacred to the Lord”. As St Paul explains, this temple is the body of Christ.
Today we celebrate the feast of Simon and Jude, two of the apostles whom Jesus chose from the outset. In his gospel Luke makes it clear that the choosing of the twelve is not a haphazard event. It is preceded by Jesus going out to the mountain and spending the night in prayer. Surprisingly, Jesus’ choices are very eclectic: fishermen, a tax collector, and the two whom we honor today: Simon the Zealot and Jude. The Zealot party in Jesus’ day was a band of fiery nationalists who would stop at nothing to rid their country of the hated Roman invaders. How Simon got along with Matthew the tax collector whom he must have considered a traitor for working hand in hand with the Romans is an intriguing thought. But we know from the gospels that there were factions among the twelve and they often jockeyed among themselves for positions of power. The key to being an apostle obviously was not perfection. Faithfulness was the one thing necessary, and at times even that faltered.
Jesus nevertheless chose them, despite their diversity and the fact that one of them ultimately betrayed him. And after his death and resurrection these same men, filled with the Holy Spirit whom he sent upon them, went abroad and spread the gospel throughout the world. United in their call to be apostles and in the one who called them, they overcame their significant differences to build up the body of Christ, the Church.
In our day we who claim to be Jesus’ followers must likewise work at being all-inclusive in our faith and practice. As we view our Church today and the tensions and even the antagonisms we see between those who call themselves liberal and those who call themselves conservative, we have to conclude that we haven’t taught the theology of the Mystical Body very well. But let us, in our Eucharistic celebration, pray for the unity Jesus yearned for and prayed for on the night before he died.
Damian Towey, CP is a member of the community at Our Lady of Florida Spiritual Center, North Palm Beach, Florida.
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