Today is the Feast of Saints Simon and Jude. Happy feast day! According to tradition, the two apostles suffered martyrdom together in Beirut, Lebanon, around 65 AD. While the Diocese of Lansing does not have a parish dedicated to Saint Simon, it does have a parish dedicated to Saint Jude, which is located in the city of DeWitt.
“Before I became the pastor in DeWitt seven years ago, Saint Jude didn’t mean that much to me. But now, yes, he means quite a lot,” says Father David Speicher, pictured above, pastor of the Catholic Community of Saint Jude in DeWitt. “Sometimes he is referred to as the ‘saint of desperate causes’, but I like to say he’s the ‘saint of hope’.”
“Recently, I found a vintage statue in an antique store that was labelled as a bust of Jesus, but then I looked more closely. He had a flame on his head and was holding a medallion bearing the face of Christ! That’s not Jesus, I realised; it’s Saint Jude!”
“It then occurred to me that, as an apostle, it’s a privilege and an honour to be mistaken for Jesus, for people to look at us but see Christ.”
Saint Simon, pray for us! Saint Jude, pray for us!
