Today is the feast of the apostles Simon and Jude, two little-known apostles who between them have one sentence recorded in the Bible:

Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” (John 14:22)

They may have only gotten one of their questions into the Scriptures, but it sure is a doozy. Why does God manifest himself only to some and not to all? Why did he hide himself in the ignominy of the Cross? Why, after the resurrection, didn’t Jesus just show himself to be the Risen Son of God for all the world to see and to worship? And, perhaps most important to us, how is it that we are able to recognize the manifestation of God?

Jesus answered him, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
He who does not love me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me. (John 14:23-24)

We must love Jesus and keep his word. By doing so, the Father and the Son (and the Holy Spirit – see verse 26) will make their home within us. Then we, like the apostles Simon and Jude, can go out and make the Father’s love manifest to those around us.

Sts. Simon and Jude, pray for us!