In today’s Gospel, we see the list of the twelve apostles. Among those are our Saints for today, Saint Simon the Zealot, and Saint Jude. They are listed together because we believe they were both martyred together in Persia, somewhere near modern-day Iran. Saint Paul tells us that the Apostles are the Church’s foundation, and Jesus Christ is the capstone.
The capstone is key to all four of the walls staying upright, and the foundation is the key to the walls not sinking into the ground. For a building to remain standing, it requires both. We have to have a strong foundation, which Paul tells us is the Apostles and the Prophets. This foundation is why we say “apostolic” in our creed. God has built our faith through their testimony. Yesterday Deacon Bill was talking about how Jesus is throughout the Church; he permeates it. He said like yeast in bread dough; nothing can separate the Church from Him. The capstone is essential to our faith. We cannot separate ourselves from Him without our lives crumbling down.
With the apostles as the foundation of our faith, I want to look at two of the names listed in today’s Gospel. Notice there is no Jude there. Instead, there are two men named Judas. Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot. Judas Iscariot, we all know as the man who betrayed Jesus. Judas, the son of James, was a cousin to St. Joseph. The scriptures also list Jude as Thaddeus, which means courageous. Because of their names’ similarity, it became customary to call this Judas by the name Jude. He also became known as the patron Saint of Lost Causes because of a superstitious belief that caused very few Christians to invoke him out of the misplaced fear that they might accidentally pray to Christ’s betrayer, Judas Iscariot.
I think we can learn something important from the two men named Judas, though. Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus. We also know that none of the men on that list, besides John, were at the foot of the cross on Calvary. They all turned their back in fear and shame, running away. The difference is how they responded to their failure. Judas Iscariot despaired and ended up killing himself. All of the other men returned in prayer to the upper room, where they experienced Jesus’ presence and received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. They then changed the world and were so committed to Christ that they went to their death as martyrs for Him. Saint Jude, instead of despairing, came back to Jesus as the capstone. His faith was built on the right foundation and supported, bonded, and held together by Jesus Christ.
That, I think, is our lesson for today. When we have a year like this one, things can seem scary and out of control. Our walls can appear on the verge of collapse. That is when we should turn to our faith. We should lift our eyes to Jesus and seek Him as the capstone of our lives. It is in those moments that we should not despair or think God won’t forgive us, but believe in Jesus Christ, cling to the faith of the Apostles, and like Saints Simon and Jude, face even death itself with courage and confidence.
A homily for daily Mass on the Feast of Saints Simon and Jude: October 28th, 2020