Today let us examine two of the Twelve Apostles: Simon the Cananaean and Jude Thaddeus. They are always placed next to each other on the lists of the Twelve. Simon is given a nickname that varies on the four lists: while Matthew and Mark describe him as a "Cananaean", Luke instead describes him as a "Zealot". In fact, the two descriptions mean the same thing: "to be jealous, ardent".

Even if this Simon was not exactly a member of the nationalist movement of Zealots, he was at least marked by passionate attachment to his Jewish identity, hence, for God, his People and Divine Law. If this was the case, Simon was worlds apart from Matthew, who, on the contrary, had an activity behind him as a tax collector that was frowned upon as entirely impure. This shows that Jesus called His disciples and collaborators, without exception, from the most varied social and religious backgrounds.

—The group of the Twelve is the prefiguration of the Church, where there must be room for all charismas, peoples and races, that find their composition in communion with Jesus.

Today let us examine also Jude Thaddaeus (not to be confused with Judas Iscariot). The paternity of one of those New Testament Letters known as "catholic", since they are not addressed to a specific local Church but intended for a far wider circle, has been attributed to Jude Thaddaeus. Actually, it is addressed "to those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ".

A major concern of this writing is to put Christians on guard against those who make a pretext of God's grace to excuse their own licentiousness and corrupt their brethren with unacceptable teachings. It is easy to see that the author of these lines lived his own faith to the fullest, to which realities as great as moral integrity and joy, trust and lastly praise belong, since it is all motivated solely by the goodness of our one God and the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.

—Therefore, may Jude Thaddeus help us to rediscover the beauty of the Christian faith and to live it without tiring.