Thursday, October 28, 2010

Hey Jude (and Simon)

Today's feast day gives us 2 great lessons:

Simon the Zealot: What does society get zealous over? Sports teams? Charlie Sheen being found naked and passed out in a hotel room? Conan O'Brian coming back? Glee? Why do we accept a high level of devotion to a person, team, or cause, but not religion? Parents will clutter the back window of their cars with stickers, magnets, and even paint jobs that essentially say, "I'm proud of my athlete/graduate/ honor student", but when have you ever seen, "I'm proud my daughter/son was Confirmed", or, "I'm proud my child went to World Youth Day", or, "I'm proud my daughter doesn't dress like a pole dancer when she goes to the mall"?

Jude Thaddeus: Ah, the "Jimmy Carter" of the Apostles: more revered for what he did after being in office than while in it. The patron of the impossible cause. The cause of countless copies of novenas being made and randomly left in pews of churches. A money maker for newspapers, who take money from the persons who wish to publicly thank the Saint for a favor granted. The beauty of acknowledging the power of St. Jude as an intercessor for the lost cause is that this also acknowledges that, for God, no cause is lost, no happening is impossible.

Also, two great martyrdoms: St. Simon sawn alive, St. Jude speared. If you live in a parish that wants the kids to dress in Saint costumes this Sunday, let your kids make a Halloween costume out of that!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Yea!, Farther Jay, I'd love to see the kids in Saint costumes instead of Vampires and Witches. If they want gory they can be "Sainted Gory"!!! Can't get any gorier than those Martyrs.

ignorant redneck said...

Da*n--you point out Simon and Jude, an hour after the grand kids left for the St. Alive party!

Barb Szyszkiewicz said...

I saw a kid at Mass today in a costume. This was about a 7 or 8 year old--a toddler in costume wouldn't have fazed me a bit.