Today the Church observes the Major Feast of Saint Simon and Saint Jude, Apostles. We don't know too much about either of them; it's possible that Jude is the author of the Letter of Jude in the New Testament, but we really don't know one way or another. St. Jude, of course, is the patron of last resport, and apparently this is so because you wouldn't want to think of him to closely with Judas Iscariot, so you'd go to all the other saints first and then to St. Jude as the last on the list.
The First Lesson at Morning Prayer today from Isaiah contains this wonderful line:
For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little.
It's actually repeated again a few verses later. The NRSV footnote helpfully adds, "Meaning of this verse in the Hebrew uncertain." Indeed! It was always great fun to hear this lesson read aloud at seminary; even the the lector often couldn't get through it without grinning. I wonder what it sounds like in the original language. Do you have other fun passages in Scripture that are particularly good when read aloud? Let us know in the comments.
O God, we thank you for the glorious company of the apostles, and especially on this day for Simon and Jude; and we pray that, as they were faithful and zealous in their mission, so we may with ardent devotion make known the love and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
RFSJ
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