Bible Diary

Daily Reading

Sts Simon & Jude, Aps

LECTIONARY
666

FIRST READING

Eph 2:19-22

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

PSALM

PS 19:2-3, 4-5

Response: Their message goes out through all the earth.

The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day pours out the word to day,
and night to night imparts knowledge.

Not a word nor a discourse
whose voice is not heard;
Through all the earth their voice resounds,
and to the ends of the world, their message.

GOSPEL

Lk 6:12-19

In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all.

Daily Reflection

When Jesus embarked on his mission he chose twelve men to be his apostles. In His choice of the twelve, we see a characteristic feature of God’s work: they were ordinary people with no special education and no social advantages; they were non-professionals, who had no wealth or position. Jesus chose these men, not for what they were, but for what they would be capable of becoming. Being with Him, they learned to reach out to people in love. As they preached, healed and gave the people a sense of hope, they became a part of God’s household, the foundations of a building with Jesus as the cornerstone.

Among the twelve were Simon and Jude, the saints we honour today. Gathering from his surname, Simon probably belonged to the party of the patriotic Zealots preparing to throw off the yoke of the Romans until he joined Jesus. Jude is believed to be the cousin of Jesus and also the author of the last Epistle in the New Testament which is said to contain strong doctrine in a few lines.

The Lord continues to call ordinary people to give witness to His Kingdom. In what way do I feel called?