{"id":390,"date":"2011-10-28T16:28:00","date_gmt":"2011-10-28T16:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2011\/10\/little-big-men\/"},"modified":"2011-10-28T16:28:00","modified_gmt":"2011-10-28T16:28:00","slug":"little-big-men","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2011\/10\/little-big-men.html","title":{"rendered":"Little Big Men"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
<\/a><\/div>\n

SS. Simon and Jude are the last two apostles on the list (before Judas Iscariot that is) and Peter comes first. I guess they put them in order of priority because poor old Simon and Jude don\u2019t get much more of a mention. The old stories say they ended up preaching the gospel in Persia, which is modern day Iran, and who would much want to go there I wonder?<\/p>\n

Then Jude has the glorious ignominy of being patron saint of lost causes, or would that be \u2018last\u2019 causes since he\u2019s mentioned last in the list?<\/p>\n

Fact of the matter is, they were still apostles, and that means they were twelve of the greats, and it reminds us that not all the \u2018greats\u2019 are great. Many of them are little. Go to Rome and see the gigantic and majestic statues of St Peter and St Paul. Where are Simon and Jude? I guess they must be there somewhere\u2013maybe up on top of the porticos or in some obscure corner, and who goes there to find their statues?<\/p>\n

But for my money, they\u2019re the kind of guys I like. I like to think that they were the faithful quiet ones. They just got on with the job of preaching the gospel. They went out to preach and heal and love people and get killed for it just like the others, but they didn\u2019t get famous. They didn\u2019t write lots of books (except for that little one that bears the name of Jude) and if anybody did know them they probably got them mixed up with the other more famous apostles who had the same names:<\/p>\n

\u201cOoooh! You\u2019re the Apostle Peter!! Love your work!!\u2026Oh. You\u2019re the other one? Never heard of you\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

or<\/p>\n

\u201cOoooh! Mummy, look it\u2019s that nasty Judas Apostle. But I thought he hung himself and his guts spilled out and what\u2019s he doing here then? Oh. He\u2019s the other one. The hopeless cause one. Oh.\u201d<\/p>\n

But I like them, just like I like the people who aren\u2019t such brilliant and radiant success stories in life. In fact, I\u2019m tired of the whole American, big, shiny \u2018success\u2019 thing, and I\u2019m really, really tired of when we translate that cultural fixation into religious terms and think we\u2019re big wonderful religious successes too when we do everything right and plaster on the shiny smile.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t mind the successful folks. It\u2019s just that I think they can probably look after themselves well enough and don\u2019t need much help. The people I really find attractive, on the other hand, are the ones who are just faithful and quiet and true and never make waves, but just get on and do the job. I like the little guys. I like the little gals. I like them because they\u2019re not actually little. They\u2019re big.<\/p>\n

So give me the little way, and let me remind myself and others that Jesus said, \u201cUnless you become like a little child you cannot enter the kingdom.\u201d It wasn\u2019t that he said, \u201cThe little way is one way if you want to follow it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cIt is the only way.\u201d So. St Simon the Unknown and St Jude the Obscure\u2013little big men: Ora pro nobis.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SS. Simon and Jude are the last two apostles on the list (before Judas Iscariot that is) and Peter comes first. I guess they put them in order of priority because poor old Simon and Jude don\u2019t get much more of a mention. The old stories say they ended up preaching the gospel in Persia, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nLittle Big Men<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"SS. Simon and Jude are the last two apostles on the list (before Judas Iscariot that is) and Peter comes first. 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