Ephesians 2:19-22 / Luke 6:12-19 (2010, 2017, 2019)
Some ancient Christian writings have it that St. Simon and St. Jude went together as missionaries to Persia, and were martyred there.
This may explain the lack of historical information on them and also why their feast days are usually put together.
Even the gospel accounts do not say much about them.
St. Simon is called the Zealot (or Zealous) maybe because of his patriotism and nationalism.
St. Jude is traditionally depicted carrying the image of Jesus in his hand or close to his chest, which according to some accounts, was used to preach the Good News
Devotional prayers to St. Jude helped people, especially newly arrived immigrants from Europe to the US, deal with the pressures caused by the Great Depression and World War II and other political and economic and social changes.
St. Jude is also invoked as the patron saint of desperate cases.
So even though we may not know much about the historical facts of these two saints, we know that they are praying for us.
We also have recourse to them in our needs, especially to the intercession of St. Jude.
They also remind us that we have to keep faith in Jesus and trust in Him always.
They even laid down their lives for Jesus in order to witness to Him.
May we also put forth our needs through the intercession of St.Simon and St. Jude, and may we also offer our lives to God in this Mass.