Saint Jude Thaddeus, Apostle

Saint Jude Thaddeus, Apostle

1.       LIFE

A.     Born in Paneas, Galilee ( Northern Israel )

B.      Father: biblical scholars agree St. Jude was a son of Cleophas

C.      Mother: Mary ( kin of Mary the mother of Jesus )

D.     Brother: St, James the Less (Luke 6:16)

E.      Brethren of Jesus (Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3)

F.      One of the twelve apostles (matthew 10:2;  Mark 3:16-18; Luke 6:16); different from Judas Iscariot (John 14:22)

G.     Jude: “giver of joy”; Thaddeus: “generous”, “kind”

H.     King Abagar of Edessa ( in northern Mesopotamia, present-day Iraq) asked Jesus to cure him of leprosy and sent an artist to bring him a drawing of Jesus; impressed with Abagar’s great faith, Jesus pressed His face on a cloth, leaving the image of his face on it; he gave the cloth to St. Jude, who ttok the image to Abagar and cured him; hence the icon; the flame of the Holy Spirit represents his presence at the Pentecost; the club represents his martyrdom.

I.         At the Last Supper, asked Jesus why he (Jesus) intended to show himself to the Apostles and not to the world after his resurrection. (John 14:22)

J.       Preached in Judae, Samaria, Idumaea, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Armenia, Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), and Libya.

K.     According to the historian Eusebius, he returned to Jerusalem in 62 A.D. to help brother St. Simeon be elected as bishop of Jerusalem.

L.      Wrote a letter to Jewish converts in Mesopotamia and Persia (present day- Iran) about perseverance in the environment of harsh, difficult circumstances.

M.    He is believed to have been martyred either in Armenia (used to be part of Persia, present day Iran) or Beirut (in Lebanon); according to the historian Annanias, he suffered martyrdom in 65 A.D. in Lebanon together with the apostle Simon the Zealot

N.     Patron of desperate situations

O.     Feast day: October 28

2.       TEACHINGS

A.     Exposed the heresies of the Simonians, Nicolaites, and Gnotics

B.      Simonian heresy: buying God’s favors ( Acts 8:9-24)

C.      Nicolaitans: from Ephesus (In Greece), Perganes, and Asia Minor (Present day Turkey); believers in unrestrained indulgence (Revelation 2:6-15)’

D.     Gnotics: Gk. Gnostikos, “having knowledge”; adherents to ancient religions who shunned the material world which the viewed as created by the demiurge, a deity subordinate to the Supreme Being, controller of the material world, antagonistics to everything spiritual.

3.       THE EPISTLE OF SAINT JUDE

A.     Written before A.D. 70; otherwise in vv. 5-7 he would have spoken of the destruction of Jerusalem.

B.      Written in Palestine, and probably in Jerusalem

C.     Addressed not to all the Christians of the whole Christian world, but those of a particular Church (vv. 3,4,18,23) not to the Gentile Christians of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), but to the Hebrew Christians of Palestine (Present day Israel) or of a neighboring country

D.     Occasion: the epistle was occasioned by the spread of the dogmatic-moral errors amongst the Hebrew Christians; pseudo-doctors” are secretly entered in”, who abuse Christian Liberty to give themselves over to sovereign ruler, and our Lord Jesus Christ” (v.4)

E.      Purpose: Jude’s intention was to caution his readers, the Hebrew Christians, against such depraved teaching of the Apostles.

F.      Exordium (introductory part): Address and good wishes  (vv.1-2), occasion and purpose of the epistle (vv.3-4)

G.     First part: he inveighs against the pseudo-teachers; describes their life and errors (vv. 5-16); they will be severly punished, as is evident from the severe punishment of the unbelieving Israelites in the Desert (v.5), of the wicked angels (v.,6),and of the inhabitants of Sodom (v.7); he mentions their wicked teaching and life (v.8), and opposes the modesty of Michael the Archangel (v.9)  to their pride (v.10); he foretells for the heretics the punishment of Cain, Balaam, and the Sons of Core, for they have imitated their  errors (vv.11-13); Enoch has already prophesied the judgement of God upon them (vv.14-6)

H.     Second part: he exorts the faithful (vv.17-23); they must remember the teaching of the Apostles,  by whom they had been warned of the coming of such heretics (vv.17-19); they must maintain the faith, keep  themselves in the love of God, and wait for life everlasting (vv. 20-21); what their behaviour should be towards Christians that have any way fallen away (vv.22-23)

I.        Epilouge: a most beautiful doxology (24-25)

A.     Man’s capacity for God

1.       MAN’S NATURAL DESIRE FOR GOD

A.     We all desire for what we perceived as good

B.      What we perceive as good in this world is imperfect

C.     We naturally seek the source of all good, the Ultimate Good

D.     “you have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” (Saint Augustine)

E.      “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (1Corinthians 13:12)

2.       KNOWING GOD BY HUMAN REASON ALONE: THE EXISTENCE OF GOD CAN BE PROVED IN FIVE WAYS (SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS)

A.     The first way: argument from motion

1.       Our senses prove that some things are in motion

2.       Things move when potential motion becomes actual

3.       Only an actual motion can convert a potential motion into an actual motion

4.       Nothing can be at once in both actuality and potentiality in the same respect (i.e., if both actual and potential, it is actual in one respect and potential in another)

5.       Therefore nothing can move itself

6.       Therefore each thing in motion is moved by something else

7.       The sequence of motion cannot extend ad infinitum

8.       Therefore it is necessary to arrive at a first mover, put in motion by no other; and this everyone understands to be God.

B.      The second way: argument from efficient causes

1.       We perceive a series of efficient causes of things in the world

2.       Nothing exists prior to itself

3.       Therefore nothing (in the world of things we perceive) is the efficient  cause of itself)

4.       If a previous efficient cause does not exist, neither does the thing that results

5.       Therefore it is the first thing in a series does not exist, nothing in the series exists

6.       If the series of efficient causes extends ad infitinum into the past, for then there would be no things existing now.

7.       That is plainly false (i.e., there are thi8ngs existing now that came about through efficient causes)

8.       Therefore efficient causes do not extend ad infintum in the past

9.       Therefore it is necessary to admit sa first efficient cause, to which everyone gives the name of God.

C.     the third way: argument from possibility and necessity (reduction argument)

1.       we find oin nature things that are possible to be and not to be, that come into being and go out of being (i.e., contingent beings)

2.       assume that every being is a contingent being

3.       for each contingent being, there is a time it does not exist

4.       Therefore it is impossible for these always to exists

5.       Therefore there could have been a time when no things existed

6.       Therefore at that time there would have been nothing to bring the currently existing contingent beings into existence

7.       Therefore, nothing would be in existence now

8.       We have reached an absurd result from assuming that every being is a contingent being

9.       Therefore not every being is a contingent being

10.    Therefore some being exists of its own necessity, and does not receive the existence from another being, but rather causes them. This all men speak of as God.

D.     The fourth way: argument from gradation of being

1.       There is a gradation to be found in things: some are better or worse than others

2.       Predications of degree require reference to the “uttermost” case (e.g., a thing is said to be hotter according as it more nearly resembles that which is hottest)

3.       The maximum in any genus is the cause of all that genus

4.       Therefore there must also be something which is to all beings that cause of their being, goodness, and every other perfection; and this we call God.

E.      The fifth way: argument from design

1.       We see that natural bodies work toward some goal, and do not do so by chance

2.       Most natural things lack knowledge

3.       But as an arrow reaches its target because it is directed  by an archer, what lacks intelligence achieves goals by being directed by something intelligence

4.       Therefore some intelligent being exists by whom all natural things are directed to their end; and this being we call God.

3.       THE LIMITS OF HUMAN REASON

A.     On our own, we are unable to enter into the intimacy of the divine mystery

B.      We stand in need of being enlightened by God’s revelation

C.     Not only about those things that exceed our understanding

D.     But also those religious and moral truths which of themselves are not beyond the grasps of human reason

E.      We must continually purify our language insorfar as it is image-bound and imperfect, realizing that we can never fully express the infinite mystery of God.

B.      God’s revelation of himself

1.       THE LIVING TRADITION

A.     The transmission of the message of Christ, brought about from the very beginnings of Christianity by means of preaching, bearing witness, institutions, worship, and inspired writings.

B.      The apostles transmitted all they received from Christ and learned from the Holy Spirit to their successors, the bishops, and through them, to all generations until the end of the world.

C.     The task  of giving an authentic interpretation of the deposit of faith has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone, that is, to the successor of Peter, the  bishop of Rome, and to the bishops in communion with him.

D.     “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19)

E.      “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey allthat I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

F.      “God, our Savior.. desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1Timothy 2:3-4)

G.     “How then can they call on the One they have not believed in? And how can they believe in One whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how can they preach unless they are sent?” (Romans 10:14-15)

2.       THE WRITTEN TRADITION

A.     The Old Testament

1.       Choronology covers from about 2000 B.C. to 400 B.C

2.       Setting covers Mesopotamia in the northeast down to Egypt in the southeast

3.       portion written as early as 1000 B.C

4.       written by different authors from different places over different epochs

5.       Jews (including Jesus) refer to the first five books as “the Law” of Moses, and the rest of the Old Testament as “the Prophets” (Matthew 5:17; 7:12; 22:37-40; Luke 16:31)

6.       In 382 A.D., the Council of Rome recognized 46 books of the Old Testmament; Protestants recognize only 39 since 1549

B.      The New Testament

1.       The first four  books (biographies of Jesus) are Gospels

2.       The rest are epistles (letters) of the discpiles addressed to Christians individuals and communities, except Revelation which is a prophecy

3.       The first book was written in 40 A.D. ( James), and last ( Revelation ) in 95 A.D.

4.       The whole Bible as we have it today was first compiled by Saint Jerome 400 A.D.

C.     Our Faith as our response to God’s revelation

1.       Faith in God the Father

A.     The creed,  also called the proffesion of faith, isd a composite formula which the Church, from its very beginning, has set forth synthetically and handed on its own faith in a language that is normative and a common to all the faithful,

B.      The most ancient profession of faith is the baptismal creed, when baptism is conferred “in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19; 3:16-17; John 14:9, 16-17)

C.     God has revealed himself to the people of Israel as the only “one God” (Deutronomy 6:4) and that “there is no other” (Isaiah 45:22)

D.     God revealed himself as YHWH, “I am Who I am” (Exodus 3:6 14-15; John 8:56-58)

E.      God is He who exists in order for anything to exists at all no origin, no end; from everlasting to everlasting

2.       Faith in Jesus Christ

A.     Jesus: “God saves” (Matthew 1:21); God exaited him to the highest place and has given him  the name which is above every other name that at that name of Jesus every knee should bow; and every tounge confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11)

B.      “there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12)

C.     The eternal Son of God, the incarnation of wisdom, was sent into the world “to bear witness to the Truth” (John 18:37); Messiah: “the Annointed One” (2Samuel 7:12-16; Luke 1:32-33);  Greek “Chrestos”

D.     God in himself “is love” (1 John 4:8-16), and he “so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son so that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:16-17)

E.      God’s Trinitarian being is inaccessible to reason alone or even to Israel’s faith before the incarnation of the Son of God and the sending of the Holy Spirit.

F.      This mystery was revealed by Jesus Christ and it is the source ofn all the other mysteries

G.     Jesus Christ revealed to us that God is “Father” because he eternally generated in his bosom the Son who is word (John 1:1-5),  “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being , sustaining all things by his powerful word” (Hebrews 1:3)

H.     Jesus brought in a new covenant (Exodus 24:3-8); Jeremiah 31:31-32; Luke 21:20 ; Hebrews 8:6-9; 9:15; 12:24)

I.        His sacrifice took over the insufficient sacrifices of the Old Testament (Levitivus 4:7-35; John 1:29-31; Hebrews 1-:1-10)

3.       Faith in the Holy Spirit

A.     The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Triune God (2Corinthians 3:17-18; Acts 5:3-4; Matthew 28:19; 2Corinthians 13,14)

B.      The Holy Spirit speak through those whom he sent (Matthew 10:19-20; John 14:15-17, 26)

C.     The Church is empowered by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8,2:1-4)

D.     The Holy Spirit is “sent into our hearts” (John 14:16;  Galatians 4:4-7; Romans 8:26-27; 1Corinthians 12:1-11)

E.      The Holy Spirit is received, not in the  baptism of water, but through the laying-on of hand (Acts 8:14-17; 19:1-6)

D.     Loving God: whole heart, soul, mind (Deutronomy 6:4-8; Matthew 4:10; 22:36-40)

1.       The first commandment; worshipin God alone (Exodus 20:2-3;
Deutronomy 5:6-7; Leviticus 19:4)

A.     Exodus 20:4-6 and Deutronomy 5:8-10 are specifications of the first commandment

B.      God himself gave instructrions to make images (Exodus  25: 18-22 ; Numbers 21:8-9; 2Chronicles 2:4-5; 3:5. 10:16; 4:1-4,21, 5:7-8)

C.     What was probihited  was the act of worshipping images, not the act of making them

D.     To adore God as the Lord of  Everything that exists

E.      To render to him the individual and community worship which is his due

F.      To offer him sacrifices, above all the spiritual sacrifices of one’s own life, united with the perfect sacrifice of Christ

2.       The second commandment: Honoring God’s name (Exodus 20:7; Deutronomy 5:11; Leviticus 19:12)

A.     To bless, praise and Glorify God’s name

B.      No blasphemy, curse, unkept vow (Matthew 5:34-37)

C.      The name of God, who is truth Himself, must not be called upon us witness to a lie

3.       The Third Commandment: Keeping the Lord’s day  Holy (Exodus 20:8; Deutronomy 5:12; Leviticus 19:30)

A.     In remembrance of God’s day of rest after  creation (Genesis 2:2) of Israel’s liberation from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 12:14-19), and of the covenant God sealed with is people (Exodus 23:10-12; 31:12-18)

B.      Sunday worship:day after the Sabbath ; day of Christ’s resurrection (Matthew 28:1-6, Mark 16:1-6; Luke 24:1-60; first day of the week (John 20:1-8)

C.     The Lord’s day; symbolic of new creation; first of all days and feasts

D.     Refraining from activities which impede the worship of God and disturb the joy proper of the day of the Lord (Exodus 20:9-11)

E.      Loving neighbors as oneself (Leviticus 19:18; Mark 12:28-31; Matthew 22:36-40)

1.       The fourth commandment: honouring one’s parents (Deutronomy 5:16; Leviticus 19:3; Exodus 20:12)

A.     God instituted the family and endowed it with  its fundamental constitutions

B.      God does not give existence to an individual without a mother and a father

C.      Marriage and the family are ordered to the good of the spouses and to the precreation and education of children

D.     In Christ the family becomes the domestic Church because it is a community of faith, of hope, and of charity

E.      The family is the original cell of human society and is therefore, prior to any recognition by public authority

F.      Family life is an invitation into the life of society

G.     In paying parents respect, children contribute to the growth in harmony and holiness in family life.

2.       The fifth commandment: respect for life (Exodus 20:13; 23:7; Leviticus 19:16-17; Matthew 5:21-22)

A.     From it’s beginning, human life involves the creative action of God and it’s remain forever in a special relationship with the creator, who is its sole end

B.      In choosing  to legitimately defend oneself one is respecting the right to life (either one’s own right or that of another) and not choosing to kill.

C.     For someone responsible for life of another, legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty, provided not only that disproportionate force is not used

D.     Forbidden: direct and intentional murder, direct abortion and cooperation in it; direct euthanasia, suicide

E.      The human ovum is a living cell and has a human DNA; the human sperm is a living cell and has a human DNA; therefore human life is already present in an egg cell and a sperm cell even before conception

F.      Respect for life entails care for one’s own health and that of others

3.       The sixth and ninth commandments: appropriate sexuality (Exodus 20:14; Deutronomy 5:18, 21, Matthew 5:27-28)

A.     God has created human beings as male and female, equal in personal dignity, and has called them to a vocation of love and communion

B.      Sexuality becomes truly human when it is integrated in a correct way into the relationship of one person to another

C.     The goods of conjugal, which is sanctified by the sacrament of matrimony, are unity, fidelity, indisollubility, and an openness to the procreation of life

D.     The conjugal act, as ordered by the creator, is  both unitive and procreative (Genesis 1:27; 2:24; Mark 10:6-9)

E.      One is obliged to overcome carnal concupiscence in thought and desire

F.      It is forbidden to cultivate thoughts and desires  towards a person who is not one’s spouse

G.     One is obliged to look at others and behave toward them in conformity with the dignity of persons and their communion.

4.       The seventh and tenth commandments: respect for the property of others (Exodus 20:15, 17: Leviticus 19:11,13; Deutronomy 5:19,21)

A.     The right to private property proceeds from the right to life

B.      The right to private property exists provided the property is acquired or received in a just way and that the universal destination of goods for the satisfaction of the basic needs of all takes precedence

C.     The purpose of private property is to guarantee freedom and dignity of individual persons by helping them to meet the basic needs of those in their change and also of others who are in need

D.     One is required with respect fo the goods of others through the practice of justice and charity, temperance and solidarity.

E.      One is forbidden to take or use another’s property against the reasonable will of the other

F.      Access to secure and honest employment must be open to all without unjust discrimination and with respect for the economic initiative and fair compensation

G.     Poverty in spirit; self-abandonment  to divine providence; preferring God to everything and everyone (Matthew 5:3; 6:25-34)

5.       The Eight commandment: upholding the truth (Exodus 20:16; Leviticus 19:11,16; Deutronomy 5:20)

A.     Everyone, endowed by God with intellect, has the duty to seek the truth, to adhere to it, and to order one’s whole life in accordance with its demand

B.      The eighth commandment forbids:

1.       False witness, perjury, lying, harm intended by the perpetrator, suffered by the victim.

2.       Rash, judgement, slander, defamation, calumny: diminishing or destroying the good reputation and honor to which every person has a right

3.       Flattery, adulation, complaisance: directed to serious sins or toward the achievement of unlawful advantages.

C.     Respect for the truth accompanied by the discretion of charity in the field of communication and the imparting of information

D.     Information provided by the media must be true, complete, and at the service of the common good.

E.      Sacred art (e.g., painting, sculpture, music) must be expressions of truth, evoking, ang glorifying the mystery of God made visible in Christ, and lead to the adoration and love of God.

F.      Life in Christ

1.       The dignity of the human person

A.     We are created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26), i.e., with intellect and will (capacity to think and decide)

B.      We are called to eternal happiness (John 10:10, 2Peter 1:3-4)

C.      The freedom to choose tells us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom; the more we choose good, the more we became free; the more we choose evil, the more we are enslaved to sin

D.     The exercise of freedom is inseparable from our dignity as human persons

E.      Christ’s sacrifice brought about freedom from the slavery of sin

F.      God put into our hearts conscience which enjoins us to do good and to avoid evil.

G.     The dignity of the human person requires uprightness of a moral conscience.

H.     A virtue is a habitual and a firm disposition to do good.

I.        There are three theological virtues: Faith, Hope, and charity (1Corinthians 13:13)

J.       Faith “is the substance of all the things hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not” Hebrews 11:1; by hope we await God’s promise of eternal life (1Timothy 4:9-10; Ephesians 1:11-12, Romans 5:1-5); by charity we love God above all things and our neighbours as ourselves.

2.       The human community

A.     Love of neighbour is inseparable from love of God (1John 4:20-21); the human person has a communal dimension as an essential component of his nature and vocation

B.      The human person is and ought to be the principle, the subject, and the end of all social institutions

C.      Principle of subsidiarity: a community of a higher order should not assume the task belonging to a community of a  lower order and deprive it of its authority

D.     Authentic human society requires respect for justice, a just hierarchy of values, and the subordination of material and instinctual dimensions to interior and spiritual ones.

E.      Authority is exercised legitimately when it acts for the common good and employs morally licit means to attain it.

F.      The common good: sum total of those condition of social life, which allow people as groups and as individuals  to reach their proper fulfilment

G.     The common good involves respect for and promotion of the fundamental rights of a person, the development of the spiritual and temporal goods of person and society, and the peace  and security of all.

3.       God’s saving act through law and grace

A.     Moral law: a work of divine wisdom; prescribes the rule of conduct that lead to the promised beatitude; forbids the ways that turn away from God.

B.      Participating in the wisdom and goodness of God (by whom we were created in his image and likeness) natural law is inscribed in our hearts (Deutronomy 30:11-16), enabling us to discern by reason the good and the bad.

C.      The law of Gospel, proclaimed and fulfilled by Christ, is the fullness and completion of divine law, natural and revealed (Matthew 5:1-12)

D.     Justification is brought by mans of the sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit which has been merited for us by the passion of Christ

E.      We of ourselves are not able to merit anything: God gives us the possibility of acquiring merit through Christ, who is the source of our merits before God.

F.      The fullness of Christian life is te call to Christian holiness

G.     Prayer in Christian life

1.        The revelation of prayer

A.     Through creation, God first calls every being from nothingness; we continue to be capable of recognizing our Creator and retain a desire for him; it is God first who ceaselessly draws us to encounter him in prayer

B.      Abraham serves as model in walking  in the presence of God, hearing and obeying him even in times of trial (Genesis 12:1-3, 15:5, 17:5, 22:2)

C.      Moses lingered in personal conversation with God. (Exodus 3:11, 4:1, 17:10-12, 32:1, 33:7-11)

D.     The prophets drew from prayer the light and strength to exhort the people to faith and to conversion of heart (1King 18:36-38; Isaiah 6:1-8; Jeremiah 1:4-10; Ezekiel 2:1-8; Daniel 6:10-22)

E.      Jesus drew apart to pray in solitude, even at night  (Matthew 14:23; Mark 6:46; Luke 6:12)

F.      He prayed before the decisive moments of his mission (Matthew 4:1, Luke 4:1-2; Mark 14:32; Matthew 26:42; John 17:1-5)

G.     He prays for us unceasingly (Luke 5:16; 22:32, John 17:20, Hebrews 7:25; Romans 8:34)

2.       The tradition of prayer

A.     In the Church is through living tradition that the Holy Spirit teaches us how to pray (Romans 8:26)

B.      The Word of God is the source of Christian prayer (Nehemiah 8:2-5)

C.      The Christian family is the first place of education in prayer (Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4)

3.       Life in prayer

A.     The church proposes  to the faithful certain rhythms of praying intended to nourish continual prayer (Psalm 113:3; Malachi 1:11; 1Thessalonians 5:16-18)

B.      Even the most interior prayer cannot dispense with vocal prayer (Luke 18: 13-14)

C.     Prayer is a gift of grace but it always presupposes a determined response (Romans 12:12)

D.     If our prayer is united with that of Jesus, we know that he gives us much more (1John 5:14-15; Matthew 18:19, 21:22, Mark 11:24; John 14:13)

Prayer and Christian life are inseparable (Matthew 28:20; John 15:16; Acts 1