The Feast Day of Saint Simon and Saint Jude

Today we celebrate the lives of Saint Simon and Saint Jude--two of the disciples about whom we really don't know much.  

Jude was the disciple called Judas, but not Judas Iscariot, so some traditions shorten the name.  The Gospels of Matthew and Mark call him Thaddeus.  Once we thought he wrote the book of Jude in the New Testament, but now, scholars don't.  He is known as the patron saint of lost causes and hopeless situations--and hospital workers.

Simon isn't Simon Peter, but Simon the Zealot.  The Zealots were a subset of the Jewish people who were nationalist in the extreme.  Perhaps they are an offshoot of the Maccabees or maybe they were a more simple form of terrorist, rising up against the Romans for any variety of reasons.  He is the patron saint of curriers, woodcutters, and tanners.

We celebrate them together because tradition has it that they travelled together as missionaries.  Tradition tells us, but not many original sources.  Were they really martyred in Persia?  That's the most widespread tradition, but there are others that say Armenia, Britain, Egypt, and points in between.

When I contemplate the 12 original disciples, I'm struck by the wide variety of people called by Jesus.  I'm amazed at how Jesus could keep them a cohesive group--and when he didn't, it still worked anyway.  That gives me hope for today.