Saying Yes to God

Readings for Thursday October 28, 2010

Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles

First Reading: Ephesians 2:19-22
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 19
Gospel: Luke 6:12-16


Brothers and sisters: 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. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. (Eph. 2:19-22)

This is the message that we are sent today from Paul's letter to the Ephesians. Before I came home to the Church, I am still bewildered that like most protestants, I never questioned what the early church was like. What did the apostles do after the ascension? What did they do during the services of the early church? When was the new testament written? It is questions like this that I had never even thought of, I guess that like most Christians I just kind of took it all for granted.

Today, we celebrate the Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles of the Church, men who literally followed and knew Jesus as He was on earth. I cannot begin to imagine what this was like. I am sure that these men had questions racing through their heads constantly. We have so much to be thankful for to the Apostles; for their passing along the faith, for their helping to build the foundation for the Church today; but most of all we should be thankful for their saying "yes" to God. Not only did their saying yes help to provide the foundation for our faith, but it is their example of saying yes to God (and no to themselves) that gives us a powerful example of what it means to follow Christ. Following Christ means surrendering our lives to Him, picking up our crosses and following where ever He leads us to. Simon and Jude, while there is not much said in the scriptures about them, their titles as apostles speak loudly about who they were as servants of God.

May we have the faith and courage to say yes to God in our lives. Saints Simon and Jude, pray for us.

Father above, we thank you for the gift of this day. Lord, we thank you for the examples of your apostles and for the foundation that you have set for our faith. Lord we praise you for the lives that we are called to and pray that through you we can continue to persevere. Lord, guide us and protect us on this journey. We ask this all through Christ our Lord. Amen.