St. Simon "the Zealot", Apostle (October 28th)

Of the Saints and Feast Days celebrated this week:

Oct. 28th, Sts. Simon and Jude, Apostles

Nov. 1st, All Saints

Nov. 2nd, All Souls


I’ve decided to write about St. Simon, known as “Simon Zelotes” (as in “the Zealot” or member of the Zealot Party) in Luke 6:15, Acts 1:13, and as “Simon Kananites / Kananaios” in Matthew 10:4 and Mark 3:18 (which _could_ derive from the Hebrew word qanai  which would _also_ mean Zealot, but _could_ also be interpreted to simply mean “from Cana,” as in, from the village where the Wedding of Cana took place).


No other direct reference to this St. Simon, the Apostle is found in the Bible.  By ancient tradition, he is linked to St. Jude, also an Apostle, leading some to speculate that when Jesus sent the disciples out “two by two,” the two had been sent out together as a team.  


There are some who link both St. Simon and St. Jude (Judas) to the “brothers of Jesus” (in Catholic tradition, sons of St. Joseph by a previous marriage) mentioned in Matthew 13:55.  In this interpretation – that Simon the Zealot would have been part of Jesus’ “family” – suggesting that Jesus would have been from a far more radical family than later more spiritual Pauline Christianity would have let on.  


In the the recent television series, The Chosen, Simon the Zealot is instead presented as the younger brother of the paralytic who Jesus heals at Bethsaida, suggesting that Jesus’ healing of the Simon’s brother saves Simon as well, and leads him to give up his previous “freedom fighter” (Zealotous) ways to become part of Jesus’ “Chosen”.  (A characteristic of The Chosen television series has been that it has sought to find reasons _why_ the various first disciples of Jesus would have given up their previous lives to follow him, assuming that such radical decisions must have been motivated by truly significant turns in their lives caused by Jesus’ entry into them).


While it remains _unclear_ why “Simon the Zealot” left his Party to join Jesus, it is the clear Biblical tradition that he did.  This also, and above all, says something about Jesus: that Jesus was willing to reach out “even to members of revolutionary groups” of his time.  This becomes all the more significant as Jesus also called St Matthew , who presents himself in his Gospel as a former tax collector (Matt 9:9, 10:3), or “collaborator with the enemy.”  


Jesus’ Gospel message is intended truly for all people.


St. Simon the (once) Zealot, pray for us!



Picture - Simon the Apostle, detail of the mosaic in the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, 6th century, © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro

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