Daily Retreat 10/28/08
2008 Oct 28 Tue: Simon and Jude, aps F
Eph 2: 19-22/ Ps 18(19): 2-3. 4-5/ Lk 6: 12-16
From today’s readings: “You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.... Their message goes out through all the earth.... ”
St. Jude, Patron of Desperate Cases
Among the twelve men listed as Jesus’ apostles, for most of them (including St. Simon the Zealot and St. Jude Thaddeus) not much is known historically about their lives after Pentecost. Different traditions (some of them contradictory) supply various details, although such traditions are not essential to the Faith.
When it comes to prayers, there’s certainly a legitimate concept of “strength in numbers,” although this doesn’t mean that, for instance, if two people are praying for the same petition, they have twice the “chance” of getting their prayers answered. So anyway, in addition to having friends on earth praying with us for particular petitions, we can also petition friends above (the saints!) to join there prayers with ours.
When I was in the 2nd grade, I remember a priest explaining the origin of the custom of invoking the intercession of St. Jude in desperate cases. I’m passing on that explanation - it’s quaint, but it has a certain logic, and I personally am inclined to believe there’s truth in the legend, but I add the disclaimer that it certainly should not be held with the same conviction as “Gospel truth”:
After the deaths of the Apostles (most, according to tradition, by martyrdom), people have often sought the prayerful intercession of the whole company of Apostles for particularly important petitions. Many would express their intention to seek the intercession of all the saintly Apostles and then begin going through the list individually, offering a particular prayer for each of the Apostles by name. Now, although not everyone can name by memory all twelve apostles, very few fail to recognize the name of Judas Iscariot. So, whenever the name “Judas” came up, most people thought immediately about the Lord’s betrayer, and tended to forget that there was another (saintly) Apostle named Judas (in English, the tradition has arisen of referring to the saint as “Jude” and the betrayer as “Judas”, but their names are actually the same). So, the upshot of it was, St. Jude’s intercession would often not be invoked the first time petitioners would cycle through the Apostles. But eventually, anxious (and at this point, even desperate!) to still be waiting for an answer to their prayers, people would realize that they had left out St. Jude (by confusing him with Judas Iscariot); so, after including him and completing their petition to all the saintly Apostles, their prayers would be answered.
Eph 2: 19-22/ Ps 18(19): 2-3. 4-5/ Lk 6: 12-16
From today’s readings: “You are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.... Their message goes out through all the earth.... ”
St. Jude, Patron of Desperate Cases
Among the twelve men listed as Jesus’ apostles, for most of them (including St. Simon the Zealot and St. Jude Thaddeus) not much is known historically about their lives after Pentecost. Different traditions (some of them contradictory) supply various details, although such traditions are not essential to the Faith.
When it comes to prayers, there’s certainly a legitimate concept of “strength in numbers,” although this doesn’t mean that, for instance, if two people are praying for the same petition, they have twice the “chance” of getting their prayers answered. So anyway, in addition to having friends on earth praying with us for particular petitions, we can also petition friends above (the saints!) to join there prayers with ours.
When I was in the 2nd grade, I remember a priest explaining the origin of the custom of invoking the intercession of St. Jude in desperate cases. I’m passing on that explanation - it’s quaint, but it has a certain logic, and I personally am inclined to believe there’s truth in the legend, but I add the disclaimer that it certainly should not be held with the same conviction as “Gospel truth”:
After the deaths of the Apostles (most, according to tradition, by martyrdom), people have often sought the prayerful intercession of the whole company of Apostles for particularly important petitions. Many would express their intention to seek the intercession of all the saintly Apostles and then begin going through the list individually, offering a particular prayer for each of the Apostles by name. Now, although not everyone can name by memory all twelve apostles, very few fail to recognize the name of Judas Iscariot. So, whenever the name “Judas” came up, most people thought immediately about the Lord’s betrayer, and tended to forget that there was another (saintly) Apostle named Judas (in English, the tradition has arisen of referring to the saint as “Jude” and the betrayer as “Judas”, but their names are actually the same). So, the upshot of it was, St. Jude’s intercession would often not be invoked the first time petitioners would cycle through the Apostles. But eventually, anxious (and at this point, even desperate!) to still be waiting for an answer to their prayers, people would realize that they had left out St. Jude (by confusing him with Judas Iscariot); so, after including him and completing their petition to all the saintly Apostles, their prayers would be answered.
posted by FrPitstick | 10/26/2008
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