Sts. Simon and Jude - Feast Day October 27

The celebration of Sts. Simon and Jude recalls for us our own call to be an apostolic people. We’ve heard that term used, especially in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium). Through Christ’s call in scripture, and through our own understanding of what we, as a people of God, believe our call to be, we recognize a special responsibility to participate in the same mission for which the twelve Apostles were selected.

While it is argued that we are all given different gifts and aptitudes by God, and therefore we are not all cut out to go into the world verbalizing God’s call to holiness to each person we meet, we are all called to do our part in this great work. We believe this is not optional. We cannot simply say: 

“I believe in God and that Jesus came as God’s Only Son. Therefore, because I accept him as my personal Savior (he did not come for just one person), I am saved.” 

No, our faith, breathed in through Sacred Scripture, breathed in through the sacraments, breathed in through prayer, must be breathed out in actions, a living witness that testifies to our faith.

The Apostles were taken aside by Jesus and given a special authority, special gifts that would allow them to take Jesus’ message into the world, so that all might hear the message and live. He did not restrict this truth to his followers, somehow implying this was a secret or special insight given to them alone! Rather he gave his followers the mission of taking that message to all the corners of the earth. 

To Jesus, the world was a giant canvas upon which he painted, using the brushes of the Apostles in bold strokes. But much of what they (the Apostles) could do was also passed on. The blank pieces of canvas were to be filled in by those they touched, and then further by those touched by students of the students of the Twelve, continuing until at last the brush is handed to us, so that every speck can be coated with the love of Christ.

We celebrate today the great work of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles. In their lives and missions we see the hand of God reach out to the world, inviting all to come and live. We see also, in their call, our own invitation to participate in this great apostolic work of the Church in the world. We pray today for all who work to spread God’s message. We pray also for ourselves, that we might accept the call to witness the love of Christ in all we do.

TY to Deacon Jim Miles for sharing this reflection!

St. Luke - Feast Day October 18

Feast Day: October 18

Born:(around the time of Jesus) :: Died:(some years after Jesus)

St. Luke was born in Antioch. He was a gentile doctor who was a good and kind man. He heard about Jesus from the great apostle Paul and soon became a Christian. The Bible calls Luke "the beloved physician."

After becoming a Christian, he went everywhere with St. Paul. Luke was a great help to him in spreading the faith in Greece and Rome. He was with Paul when he was shipwrecked and through other dangers as they traveled from place to place. 

St. Luke wrote two books in the Bible: the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. Although he did not meet Jesus while he was on this earth, he wanted people to know and love Jesus like he did.

So he talked to people who knew Jesus. He wrote down all that they had seen Jesus do and heard Jesus say. 

Saint Luke spent time with Mother Mary learning all he could about Jesus from her. From

Mary he heard about how the angel Gabriel appeared to her at the Annunciation. He also heard all about the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem and the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt.

Luke also wrote the story of how the apostles began to teach and spread the good news after Jesus went back to heaven. It is in Luke's book, The Acts of the Apostles that we learn how the Church began to grow and spread.

St. Luke is the patron saint of doctors. We believe he died in Greece. He is one of the four evangelists, or Gospel writers.

St. Ignatius of Antioch - Feast Day October 17

Feast Day: October 17
Born:50 :: Died:107

St. Ignatius of Antioch was born in the year 50 to a pagan family (people who do not believe in God). He later wanted to become a Christian and was converted.

Ignatius was the third bishop of Antioch. This is the city where St. Peter labored before he moved to Rome. It is also the city where followers of Jesus were first called Christians. 

Ignatius was condemned to death by Emperor Trajan who hated the Christians. He was taken from Antioch to the amphitheater in center of Rome. 

This was the place where the Christians who were to die were left in the center of a big ground to be eaten by hungry lions that were let out of their cages.

All around this large ground were seats for the Romans to watch while the lions killed the people and they enjoyed watching the Christians die.

Although St. Ignatius traveled to Rome under military guard, he stopped in Smyrna and Troas. From each of those cities, he wrote letters to the Christian communities. He was the first writer to use the term "the Catholic Church."

He told the churches that he was very happy to die for Jesus so they must not stop him. He

asked them to pray that God would grant him his wish. In this way, like the great St. Paul, he preached the Good News to the people.

When the beloved Ignatius arrived in Rome, he joined the brave Christians who waited in prisons. The day came when the bishop was pushed out into the amphitheater. Two fierce lions devoured him. 

He left the beautiful witness of Christian life and his letters. St. Ignatius died around 107. St. Jerome and St. John Chrysostom both thought of his tomb as near the city gates of Antioch.

Let us find courage in the witness and prayers of St. Ignatius.

St. Paul of the Cross - Feast Day October 20

Feast Day: October 20
Born: 1694 :: Died: 1775

Paolo Francesco Danei or Paul Daneo was born at Ovada, in northern Italy, into a family of merchants. He was a good and pious Christian who practiced his faith.

When he was nineteen years old, Paul decided to become a soldier, but after one year he left the army.

During the summer of 1720 Paul had three visions (in his dreams) about starting a new religious order. He couldn't understand what was happening, so he went to his bishop for guidance. 

The bishop studied his case and believed that the visions were real. He told Paul to go ahead and do what he was being told to do in this special call from God.

Paul spent forty days in prayer and penance. He then started the order called the Barefoot Clerks of the Cross and the Passion (Passionists). 

Paul was joined by his brother John and two other young men. Paul and John were ordained priests by the Pope. Ten years later, they started the first Passionist monastery. 

The Pope approved the new order. He also agreed to the new rule St. Paul added, a short time later. Besides the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, Paul of the Cross added a fourth vow: devotion to the passion of Christ. 

By 1747, the Passionists had three monasteries. They were preaching parish retreats everywhere in Italy. Paul was a preacher of such power that even tough soldiers and bandits cried when they heard his sermons.

St. Paul asked people to imitate the patience of our dear Jesus because this is the height of pure love and to practice heroic goodness through patience that has been strengthened by courage. 

He wanted people to live in such a way that others may see in them Jesus crucified, the model of all gentleness and mercy.

Before he died in 1775, Paul of the Cross also started a congregation of Passionist nuns.