Two Paths: Jude or Judas
BY BR. LUKE HOYT, O.P., DEACON OF THE ROSARY SHRINE OF ST. JUDE
I
t must have been awkward for St. Jude to
introduce himself to fellow Christians.
“Hi, I’m Jude.”
“Oh....um....you mean the one who...?”
“No, that was Judas. I’m Jude.
Different guy.”
For all the similarity of their names, the
legacies of Jude and Judas could not be more
different. Judas is the ultimate “lost cause.”
Jude is the patron of lost causes. What was
the distinguishing factor between them? The
virtue of hope. Judas is a “lost cause” because
his faults drove him to despair. Jude is the
patron of lost causes because he had hope.
Jude was called to be an Apostle. So was
Judas. Jude lived with Christ and was taught
by him. Same with Judas. Jude was guilty
of a grave moral failing by deserting Christ
after the last supper. Judas was guilty of a
ST. JUDE MESSENGER • VOLUME III, ISSUE I
grave moral failing by betraying Christ after
the last supper. But while Judas despaired of
Christ’s forgiveness in the wake of his grave
fault, Jude continued to trust and hope in
Christ’s love and friendship.
“Judas is the ultimate lost
cause. Jude is the patron of
lost causes. What was the
distinguishing factor between
them? The virtue of hope.”
Each of us is potentially a Jude or a Judas. Like
each of them, we have been called to follow
Christ. We each seek to live with Christ and
receive his teaching. We are each guilty of
many moral failings.
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