The Gospel for the feasts of Saints Simon and Jude Apostles is taken from Luke 6:12 to the 16th verse. Jesus went up the mountain to pray and he spent the night in prayer to God. When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose 12, whom he also named apostles. Simon, whom he named Peter and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon, who was called a zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. His gospel makes clear the humanity of Jesus. Before he could make a choice on who would be the ones that would begin to carry on his message after he died, he didn’t look to himself, didn’t even look maybe so much at the people that he was going to choose, but rather turned to his father, asked him, please choose for me those that you know can do the work that I’ve been called to do and to bring it to fulfillment.

Closing prayer Father, in all that we do, all that we choose, we want to be sure that we are turning to you and inviting you to give us guidance. Without you, we cannot accomplish the task that you’ve given us. So bless us with a dependence on your wisdom, not on our own. And we ask this in Jesus name, Amen.