Tempora: Feria Tertia infra Hebdomadam XX post Octavam Pentecostes
V. Octobris – Classis II Feast
“But to every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the giving of Christ.” (Eph. 4:7)
On this feast of Ss. Simon and Jude, Apostles, the Church gives us a double portion of spiritual nourishment: the mystery of the apostolic office in Ephesians 4, and the sobering realism of the world’s hatred for Christ and His own in John 15. We are drawn into the apostolic mission not merely as passive observers, but as the living continuation of that same body which Christ, in His ascension, “gave some apostles, and some prophets, and other some evangelists, and other some pastors and doctors, for the perfecting of the saints” (Eph. 4:11–12).
The choice of these two readings today is no coincidence. The holy Apostles Simon and Jude are often remembered together in tradition as laborers in forgotten and hard fields, sent to proclaim the Gospel in Persia and possibly Mesopotamia—lands resistant, unyielding, and eventually soaked with their blood. They were not of the inner circle, not prominent in Gospel narratives like Peter or John. And yet their lives shine with the quiet fidelity and steadfast courage demanded by our Lord in today’s Gospel: “If the world hate you, know ye, that it hath hated Me before you.” (John 15:18)
The Apostolic Mission: A Divine Architecture
St. Paul in Ephesians 4 teaches us the theology of the Church’s structure as willed by Christ: not a loose association of believers, but a mystical body with a divine architecture. The apostles are the foundation stones, with Christ as the cornerstone (cf. Eph. 2:20). The holy Apostles Simon and Jude, therefore, are not incidental figures in the story of the Church—they are pillars upholding her mission and sanctity.
St. John Chrysostom, commenting on this passage, emphasizes that these offices are not for personal glorification, but “for the edification of the Body.” He writes:
“He gave these gifts, not that they should shine and be admired, but that they might serve the common good, that each might be a teacher and benefactor to the rest.”
(Homilies on Ephesians, Homily 11)
This is the spirit of Simon and Jude: obscure, unsung, yet pillars of the Church by their apostolic labors and their blood. The Church is not perfected by human talents alone, but by the divinely apportioned gratia—grace given according to Christ’s measure (Eph. 4:7), which often appears hidden, yet bears eternal fruit.
The World’s Hatred: Sharing the Cross of Christ
In the Gospel from St. John, we hear the chilling yet bracing words of Christ: “If the world hate you, know ye, that it hath hated Me before you.” These words, spoken on the night of His betrayal, form part of His final instruction to the Apostles. They are not told to expect honor or comfort, but rejection. To bear the apostolic office is to carry a share of the world’s hatred, just as Christ bore it to the Cross.
St. Augustine, meditating on this passage, writes:
“The world is the lovers of the world. Not the sky and earth, but the lovers of the world are the world. And what is meant by the world hating Christ? That the world hates His members—us.”
(Tractates on the Gospel of John, Tractate 87)
St. Jude, in his brief but fiery epistle, warned the faithful of the infiltration of ungodly men into the Church, who “turn the grace of our God into riotousness” (Jude 1:4). He speaks not with the calm of detachment, but with the fire of one who has contended against darkness firsthand.
Likewise, St. Simon, called the Zealot, bore the temperament of one deeply passionate for the law of God. In tradition, his zeal is baptized by the Spirit, redirected not into political rebellion, but into a spiritual war against idolatry and unbelief.
Their martyrdom, though not recorded in detail in the Scriptures, is attested by the early Fathers and hagiographers. They were slain, according to tradition, by pagans enraged at the destruction of their idols and the spread of the Christian Gospel. Thus the words of Christ were fulfilled in them: “They hated Me without cause.” (John 15:25; cf. Ps. 34:19)
Building Up the Body in the Shadow of the Cross
The Epistle and Gospel today come together in a solemn harmony: the building up of the Body (Eph. 4) is inseparable from bearing the world’s hatred (John 15). The ecclesia is edified not through popularity or ease, but through fidelity in suffering. As St. Gregory the Great reminds us:
“The holy Church increases in merit through suffering, even when she seems to decrease outwardly through persecution.”
(Homilies on the Gospels, Book I, Homily 16)
The Feast of Ss. Simon and Jude is thus not simply a historical remembrance, but a spiritual call. These lesser-known Apostles speak to the anonymous fidelity required of many Christians today: serving without applause, teaching without acclaim, suffering without human consolation. And yet in the economy of grace, their reward is undiminished.
As we chant their feast in the sacred liturgy—”In omnem terram exivit sonus eorum…” (“Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth…”)—we affirm that the apostolic mission endures in the Church. The same grace Christ gave them He now pours into His Church for the perfection of the saints.
Prayerful Conclusion
Let us therefore invoke the intercession of Ss. Simon and Jude, that we may be strengthened for the task of bearing witness in a world that still hates the truth. May we labor for the building up of Christ’s Body, and not lose heart when the world rejects us, knowing that we are sharing in the portion of the Apostles themselves.
O Glorious Apostles Simon and Jude, faithful servants and friends of Jesus, who gave up your lives for His Name, strengthen us in our trials, and obtain for us the grace to remain steadfast in the faith, unto the perfecting of the Body of Christ. Amen.