Oct 28 St Jude - his epistle

Good Morning

111023
1247

Going from the bio of Jude to his letter as copied from the USCCB website.


THE LETTER OF JUDE

This letter is by its address attributed to “Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and brother of James” (Jude 1). Since he is not identified as an apostle, this designation can hardly be meant to refer to the Jude or Judas who is listed as one of the Twelve (Lk 6:16; Acts 1:13; cf. Jn 14:22).

[So our US bishops disagree with so many others that the author of this epistle is the Jude Thaddaeus the Apostle? Does it matter who the author is? But of course it does. But how?]

The letter is addressed in the most general terms to “those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept safe for Jesus Christ” (Jude 1), hence apparently to all Christians.

[Is not all scripture addressed to all? However, the specific intent of the author, in addition to whom the author actually is, helps us better understand the Word that is meant for us. Knowing more helps us love more and do better.]

But since its purpose is to warn the addressees against false teachers, the author must have had in mind one or more specific Christian communities located in the unidentified region where the errors in question constituted a danger. The errors envisaged seem to reflect an early form of gnosticism, opposed to law, that points rather to the cultural context of the Gentile world.

[The Catholic Encyclopedia online gives us 12,600+ word about gnosticism. Ya think it’s an important heresy to know about? Da! Not only for its historical and contextual benefit but because gnosticism is embedded in our world too. Know it so you can see it when it rears its beautiful, seductive head. Know your own faith so you can not only reject gnosticism but also refute it…]

From Catholic Encyclopedia online: A more complete and historical definition of Gnosticism would be: A collective name for a large number of greatly-varying and pantheistic-idealistic sects, which flourished from some time before the Christian Era down to the fifth century, and which, while borrowing the phraseology and some of the tenets of the chief religions of the day, and especially of Christianity, held matter to be a deterioration of spirit, and the whole universe a depravation of the Deity, and taught the ultimate end of all being to be the overcoming of the grossness of matter and the return to the Parent-Spirit, which return they held to be inaugurated and facilitated by the appearance of some God-sent Saviour.

Between Jude and 2 Peter, most scholars believe that Jude is the earlier of the two.

This little letter is an urgent note by an author who intended to write more fully about salvation to an unknown group of readers, but who was forced by dangers from false teachers worming their way into the community to dash off a warning against them and to deliver some pressing Christian admonitions.

The letter is justly famous for its majestic closing doxology (24–25).
24. To the one who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished and exultant, in the presence of his glory,
25. to the only God, our savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord be glory, majesty, power, and authority from ages past, now, and for ages to come. Amen

[Must admit – didn’t ring any bells for me. I suppose because I’ve maybe read Jude’s letter twice in my life: plus the rare times it’s used at Mass.]

Address and Greeting.

1. Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept safe for Jesus Christ:
2. may mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance.

Occasion for Writing.

3. Beloved, although I was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation, I now feel a need to write to encourage you to contend for the faith that was once for all handed down to the holy ones.

[Contend for the faith, i.e., The Faith, handed down once for all – all people, all time. A gift. Accept it. Embrace it. Assimilate it. Live it. Contend for it!]

4. For there have been some intruders, who long ago were designated for this condemnation, godless persons, who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and who deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

[It would seem that godless, perverts, licentious, and deniers of Jesus would be easy enough to recognize and reject. Obviously not. Not then and not now. One reason to read the Bible, the Fathers, today’s teachers – read, meditate, study, do our own writing. To know the Truth to be better able to recognize the devil, The Untruth.]


The False Teachers. [And what happened(s) to them. So, don’t be like them!]

5. I wish to remind you, although you know all things, that [the] Lord who once saved a people from the land of Egypt later destroyed those who did not believe.

[Pharaoh’s unconquerable army wiped out. Whose side are you on? Hellfire and brimstone? Or a matter of fact reminder that there are chaff as well as wheat, goats as well as sheep.]

6. The angels too, who did not keep to their own domain but deserted their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains, in gloom, for the judgment of the great day.

[I will remember Carol Kay affectionately and admiringly forever. The woman introduced me to a love of literature unbounded. She got me to read and read some more: with relish. My favorite paper as an undergrad argued that Satan was the “hero” of Paradise Lost: contrarian that I was (is?).]
[Where will you stand on Judgment Day? Or, better, on every judgment day?]

7. Likewise, Sodom, Gomorrah, and the surrounding towns, which, in the same manner as they, indulged in sexual promiscuity and practiced unnatural vice, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

[Anyone for indulging in sexual promiscuity? Of course! And a few unnatural vices for variety? Sure! And the example of Sodom and Gomorrah – a punishment of eternal fire? Or worse, an eternity separated from the One Who loves you? Ah, there are choices. See the Charley Brown comic I’ve framed. There are choices and every choice has its consequences. It’s a package deal. Jude reminds us of the entire package. Pascal’s wager if you will….]

8. Similarly, these dreamers nevertheless also defile the flesh, scorn lordship, and revile glorious beings.
9. Yet the archangel Michael, when he argued with the devil in a dispute over the body of Moses, did not venture to pronounce a reviling judgment upon him but said, “May the Lord rebuke you!”
10. But these people revile what they do not understand and are destroyed by what they know by nature like irrational animals.
11. Woe to them! They followed the way of Cain, abandoned themselves to Balaam’s error for the sake of gain, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
12. These are blemishes on your love feasts, as they carouse fearlessly and look after themselves. They are waterless clouds blown about by winds, fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead and uprooted.
13. They are like wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shameless deeds, wandering stars for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved forever.

[How heroic are those who scorn lordship and revile glorious beings? When we see merit in the evil doers, Jude suggests other images – blemishes on your love feast; waterless clouds (especially wanton over the desert), waterless clouds blown about by winds; fruitless trees – twice dead and uprooted (and thrown on the fire!); wild waves of the sea; wandering stars for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved forever. Love the metaphors and similes! Picture yourself as any one of these when you consider joining the followers of Cain and Balaam.]

14. Enoch, of the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied also about them when he said, “Behold, the Lord has come with his countless holy ones
15. to execute judgment on all and to convict everyone for all the godless deeds that they committed and for all the harsh words godless sinners have uttered against him.”
16. These people are complainers, disgruntled ones who live by their desires; their mouths utter bombast as they fawn over people to gain advantage.

Exhortations.

17. But you, beloved, remember the words spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ,

[How do you remember what the apostles said? Read the Bible. Attend Mass. Talk about them with your friends. The apostles are a source of strength only to the degree that you know them. Talk with them. Listen to them.]

18. for they told you, “In [the] last time there will be scoffers who will live according to their own godless desires.”

[We live by God’s will – like Jesus did – or by our own godless desires. There are two choices; mutually exclusive choices.]

19. These are the ones who cause divisions; they live on the natural plane, devoid of the Spirit.
20. But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the holy Spirit.

[Pray. Pray Always. Pray in the Spirit who has been given to us by Jesus.]

21. Keep yourselves in the love of God and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.

[So how do we keep ourselves in the love of God? The commandments are the place to start. The original ten. Love the law. Embrace the law. Then Jesus’ commandments: “Love one another as I have loved you.” Love God with your whole heart! In a way similar to how you love your lover – do everything within your imagination to please her. Lover your neighbor as yourself. Keep yourself in the love of God.]

22. On those who waver, have mercy;

[The Quality of Mercy is NOT strained! Forgive seven times seven; seventy times seven. Do unto others as you would have them do onto you…..]

23. save others by snatching them out of the fire; on others have mercy with fear, abhorring even the outer garment stained by the flesh.
[Not only be merciful, be proactive. Reach into the fire and pull them out. What is ‘the fire?’ e.g., the scorn of ‘friends’ when you exhort someone to do good and right. Step up, into the fire, snatch your brother/sister from the fire. If they were a child about to touch the hot stove? If they were about walk into a burning building would you not snatch them away?]

Doxology.

24. To the one who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished and exultant, in the presence of his glory,
25. to the only God, our savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord be glory, majesty, power, and authority from ages past, now, and for ages to come. Amen.


AMDG
wtn
1427
(with the Jets-Chargers game on)