From My Heart To You

SIMON

The New Testament lists Simon as one of the Twelve but gives
him no further mention. Matthew and Mark name him "the
Cananaean;" Luke and the Acts call him "Zelotes." Both names
mean "the Zealot," a title Simon is thought to have received
because he belonged to the radical Jewish faction that violently
opposed foreign rule in Palestine.

The Zealots thought of themselves as the agents of God's
righteous wrath against idolatry and any other transgressions
of the Law. Paul's fanatical opposition to the Church prior
to his conversion had its roots in the kind of zeal that
motivated the Zealots. During the first century A.D. the Zealots
constituted the hard core of the resistance movement against
Roman rule.

There can be no doubt that after Simon gave his allegiance to
Jesus he tempered his zeal with justice, charity and prudence,
virtures that characterized the teachings of Jesus. Ungoverned
by these virtues, zeal can generate the greatest evils, as
history sadly testifies.

We have no reliable information about Simon's ministry. Some
early Christian writers identify him with Simeon, son of Cleopas,
who, according to the historian Hegesippus, succeeded James as
head of the church in Jerusalem. An Eastern tradition, which
maintains he died peacefully in Edessa, conflicts with a Western
tradition that holds, as we have seen, that Simon was martyred
with Jude in Persia.

As parents of a Christian family you must have zeal in caring
for your children. It is right that you should be zealous
in providing with many of the good things in life. But your
zeal as a good provider must always be tempered with justice,
charity and purdence. The parents who never spend time with
their children because of working to provide for them with
material things has the wrong kind of zeal. The parents of a
Christian family must balance their responsibilities and
always take care that spiritual values have highest priority
in their home.



Midi playing ~ Ah Lord God