The Holy Apostle Jude, Brother of the Lord According to the Flesh
Rank: Polyeleos.
Apostles’ Fast. Abstinence from meat and foods that contain meat.
Read
Jude 1:1-10; John 14:21-24
Today we commemorate the Holy Apostle Jude the Brother of the Lord According to the Flesh. He was the son of Joseph from his first wife. The term brother was used much more loosely to include anyone who from biological brother, stepbrother to cousin. One would assume that Jude growing up with Jesus would have had a privileged position seeing Jesus grow up, but on the contrary it was the opposite: “For even his brethren did not believe in him.” (John 7:5) Being so close to the Lord meant that he took for granted his privileged position. Instead of being one of the first to recognize the Divine identity of Jesus Jude doubted, envied him and refused to believe. It was not until Christ’s death and resurrection that Jesus’ brothers repented, received Christ and became apostles, preachers, hierarchs and martyrs.
Many of us, through baptism, have grown up in the family of God. Like Jude this gives us a privileged and beautiful perspective on God working in our midst. Unfortunately, it is easy to take this privilege for granted and become overfamiliar with our Lord. This occurs when we neglect to love our Lord. Tradition states that St. Jude, along with the other brothers, opposed the sharing of St. Joseph’s inheritance with Jesus. In other words, the neglect of love to the Lord slowly disconnects us from our Saviour. Our Lord instructs us today that we not only need to study His commandments, but by keeping them we concretely show love. When we express our love for the Lord, the Father and the Son return that love more deeply then we can ever imagine for the Holy Trinity will come abide within us.
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