Feast of Saints Simon and Jude
Investiture of Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulchre
Cathedral of the Incarnation
Nashville, TN
October 28, 2023
The “Ecclesiological Dimension” of the Order
In today’s reading from Ephesians, St. Paul lays out the mystery of the Church in a few tightly packed sentences. First he says we are “no longer strangers and sojourners” – that is – those who wander aimlessly through life looking for identity, meaning, and love. Rather, we belong to one another as citizens of a city, the heavenly Jerusalem, where we are “fellow members” with all the holy ones, that is, the saints. Then Paul adds that we belong to God’s household, his family, “built on the foundation of the Apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.” It is Christ who holds this household together, enabling us to become “a temple sacred to the Lord, a dwelling place for God in the Spirit.” The Church is God’s holy city. His household. His temple. And we are part of it all.
Here we think of Cardinal Filoni’s timely reminder that belonging to the Order of the Holy Sepulchre is not a mere personal honor, nor is it joining an organization separate from the Church’s ordinary life. Rather, he speaks of the “ecclesiological dimension” of the Order, that is to say, it is part of the Church that Jesus founded upon the Apostles, and belonging to Order of the Holy Sepulchre is a way of deepening our membership in and commitment to God’s household, as we seek to build up the Church in the very place where it was founded. Thus are we ‘spurred on’ to holiness of life and missionary discipleship.
Simon and Jude on Mission
Celebrating the feast day of the Apostles Simon and Jude brings us back to that hour when Jesus founded his Church – by his preaching and miracles, by forming disciples and choosing Apostles, by his death and resurrection, and by sending the Spirit upon the Apostles and the Virgin Mary at Pentecost. From that Upper Room, the Apostles emerged, filled with the Holy Spirit and power, as they began to preach the Gospel far and wide, heedless of the cost.
It is said that Simon and Jude preached the Gospel in Egypt and Lebanon. While not physically far from the Mother-Church, Jerusalem, these missionary sites were culturally and religiously far-flung. We can only imagine what courage it took for them to leave their companions to bring the Gospel to those places, knowing they would likely to die for the faith they preached, as indeed they did. Their missionary activity in lands adjacent to ancient and modern-day Israel is poignant as we witness with great sadness the conflict that today besets the whole region. We ask Simon and Jude to intercede for an end to violence and terrorism in the Holy Land, and for a path forward towards lasting peace and enduring justice.
These two Apostles, Simon and Jude, speak further to us at this Investiture Mass, not only because of where they preached but also because of who they are: Simon the Zealot and Jude, the patron of hopeless cases.
St. Simon the Zealot
In Luke’s Gospel, Simon is called “the Zealot”. I’m guessing none of us would like to have the word “zealot” on our business cards. So, what kind of a zealot was Simon? Scholars tell us that Simon was called a zealot for two possible reasons: First, because he was zealous to a fault for the Old Testament Law and Prophets, perhaps in the way that St. Paul was zealous for the Law before his conversion. And second, because Simon may have been among the politically motivated zealots who sought to liberate Israel from the oppression of the Roman Empire.
Either way, Jesus transformed Simon’s zealotry. Using the language given us by St. Paul, we may say of Simon that he came to see that salvation comes neither from the observance of the Law nor from any personal or political ideology, but rather from faith in Christ Jesus – crucified, risen, and exalted. Thus, in Simon destructive zeal was transformed by Christ into life-giving zeal, the same zeal you and I should have as members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre: zeal to grow in holiness, zeal to spread the Gospel all around us, and zeal to foster the Church’s life in the Holy Land.
May Simon the Zealot to pray for us, that all destructive zealotries would give way to a true passion for peace and justice. May his prayers help us to live our faith, free of destructive ideologies. relying instead on the One who is our hope, our life, our joy: the Lord Jesus Christ, the One whom we encounter and receive in the mystery of the Holy Eucharist.
St. Jude Patron of Hopeless Cases
St. Jude is the saint we turn to when the chips are down. He is a saint who reminds us that “hope that does not disappoint.” As Sirach says, “…has anyone hoped in the Lord and been disappointed? … Has anyone called upon him and been rebuffed?” In his ministry and martyrdom, Jude himself had indomitable hope.
Where did St. Jude acquire such unconquerable hope? He acquired it from the Savior himself and from the Spirit he sent, the Savior who, as Pope Benedict XVI said, “traveled the path of death right to the bitter and seemingly hopeless end in the tomb.” And to reiterate, the Holy Sepulchre is that mysterious place where hope overcame despair, where joy overcame sadness, where life overcame death…this is the source of the Apostle Jude’s hope.
Just as we ask St. Simon to pray for the transformation of today’s zealotries, so too we ask St. Jude to intercede for the seemingly hopeless situation that has unfolded following the violent attacks of October 7th in the Holy Land. Through his intercession, may the vulnerable be protected, captives freed and the sorrowing consoled. Let us pray earnestly for this intention even as we ask St. Jude’s help for the problems that keep us up at night and the sorrows that break our hearts.
Our Lady of Palestine
Finally, I entrust those of you being invested today to the prayers of Simon and Jude and to the intercession of Mary, Our Lady of Palestine. Through their prayers, may your membership in the Order bear abundant fruit in your own lives and families, in your local parishes and dioceses, and especially in the land made holy by the life, death, and triumph of Christ, who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever.