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Jesus went as much as the mountain to wish, and he spent the night time in prayer to God. When day got here, he referred to as his disciples to himself, and from them he selected…Simon who was referred to as a Zealot. (Lk 6:12-15)
Out of all twelve Apostles, maybe it’s Simon—whose feast we have a good time at the moment (together with that of St. Jude)—about whom the Gospels reveal the least quantity of data. Even at the moment’s liturgical studying chosen to replicate his life is each quick and scant. What does this inform us? It tells us that the Lord has offered us with simply sufficient details about Simon’s life to deliver the sunshine of understanding to our personal.
St. Simon has no particular tales related to him in Scripture, aside from it mentioning that he was bodily current for sure occasions. For most of those occasions, it is just an assumed participation, as Scripture references “the Twelve” with out specifying or singling out Simon by identify. Scripture students should not even sure whether or not Simon was known as the “Zealot” as a result of he was a member of a selected spiritual sect that bore that identify, or if it was as a result of he had a novel “zeal” for Christ. The solely info we learn about St. Simon with certainty is that he was chosen by God and that not a single phrase was recorded from his lips.
That actually doesn’t inform us an entire lot—and but, eternally talking, it’s all the things we have to learn about Simon the Zealot. So as an alternative of taking a look at what Scripture doesn’t inform us, let’s take a look at what it does.
For one factor, as chosen Apostle of Christ, we all know that Simon was one of many males who adopted Jesus’s Great Commission: “Go, subsequently, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them within the identify of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, educating them to watch all that I’ve commanded you” (Mt 28:19). Simon was accountable—a minimum of Peter, James, John, and the remainder—for constructing the muse of the early Church. How do we all know this? Because Jesus didn’t select solely Peter, James, and John to construct and information His Church. He selected a further 9 males. Jesus would have achieved nothing with out objective or want, and subsequently if he selected twelve Apostles, it’s as a result of He had a objective and a plan for all twelve Apostles! Without Simon, subsequently, the plan of the early Church wouldn’t have come to fruition, not less than not in the identical means.
We can solely speculate as to what it was about Simon that offered a necessity that might not have been fulfilled with out him…however maybe his identify provides us a clue. If the title “Zealot” has stayed with him centuries after his passing from this life, we will solely think about that it was his distinctive zeal that made all of the distinction within the Church. Without these cheerleaders in our lives encouraging us and saying, “You obtained this! You can do it!” it’s typically the case that our personal discouragement will persuade us to surrender and provides in.
Perhaps it was Simon who inspired Peter in his position as chief, a job for which Peter will need to have felt unqualified and unworthy. Perhaps it was Simon who frequently reminded the others of the Lord’s promise as they waited day after day within the Upper Room. Perhaps it was Simon who insisted most ardently to Thomas in his doubt that the Lord had returned from the dead. We don’t know.
There is one additional clue which Scripture provides us about Simon: his silence. When it involves silence in Scripture, we aren’t to take lack of dialogue to imply lack of significance, or to imagine that his phrases weren’t price recording. After all, whose silence is extra blatant than that of St. Joseph? No, the silence of Simon paradoxically tells us volumes about this Apostle.
If St. Simon has been remembered by the Church primarily for his zeal, then what does this inform us about what it means to be a zealous Christian? It tells us that the simplest strategy to deliver the sunshine of Christ to a darkened world will not be essentially by persisting with our phrases, however by persevering with our instance.
Now let’s be clear: this isn’t to counsel that phrases haven’t any objective or that preaching is futile. Of course, with out the phrases recorded in our beloved Bible to information us, we might be misplaced. In reality, it’s exactly the explanation that many are misplaced at the moment; they merely don’t seek the advice of the one treasure handed on to us by our forefathers to show us how we’re to navigate this factor referred to as “life.”
But earlier than anybody will even suppose to select up and skim, or sit down and pay attention, they need to first have the ember of religion written upon their hearts ignited, sparked, and fanned right into a burning flame. That is what occurs once we provide our instance of zeal, as Simon absolutely did, for others.
Today, the phrase “zealot” has taken on the connotation of non secular extremism. But within the Christian custom, to be zealous is to show enthusiasm and pleasure with regard to the issues of God. This form of zealousness is supposed to draw lonely, despairing hearts. The peace and pleasure of Christ we provide ought to deliver a balm of therapeutic like to those that endure, who doubt, who’re entrenched in sin. What we’ve to supply is one thing to be attained by no different pursuit in life. In a phrase, what we’ve to supply is the excellent news of Christ’s life-saving mercy and love.
St. Simon the Zealot, pray for us.
Rubens, P.P. (1611). St. Simon [painting]. Retrieved from Wikimedia Commons.
