+ (Intro) Today we have the feast of the Apostles Simon and Jude. We know very little about either of them though St Jude may be the most invoked of all the apostles since he has become the “patron of hopeless causes.” I have invoked his help on more than one occasion. Interesting that we celebrate Simon the zealot and Jude the patron of hopeless causes the same day, showing the breath of God’s love. Let us own our own need for God’s loving forgiveness of our sins and failings.
(After the gospel) A lot of our Christian and monastic lives is about knowing our dignity as children of God and being true to it. St Paul has reminded us that “we are “members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.”
We are to grow into a sacred temple and be the dwelling place of God and have God’s very own Spirit dwelling within us. Like the apostles we celebrate today, we are to be one with the living body of Christ. What more could we ask for, or hoped for, than to experience the depth of our calling.
In this Eucharist we receive the very Body and Blood of our risen Lord. And as we become one with Him, we in turn become the sacrament of His presence to all around us, with those with whom we live or work. Christ’s great love has a way of breaking down all the barriers, all that may divide us so that we may be even now, a living “temple sacred to the Lord. “
Eph 2:19-22; Luke 6:12-6