From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Gathering and Separating   
      
       "And he will separate them one from another as a shepherd   
   separates the sheep from the goats." So then, people on earth are   
   intermingled, and not only intermingled in that the righteous live   
   side by side with the wicked, but they are also indistinguishable.   
   Between the righteous and the wicked there is no apparent difference.   
   Even as in wintertime you cannot tell the healthy trees apart from the   
   withered trees but in beautiful springtime you can tell the   
   difference, so too each person according to his faith and his works   
   will be exposed. The wicked will not have any leaves or show any   
   fruit, but the righteous will be clothed with the leaves of eternal   
   life and adorned with the fruit of glory. In this way they will be   
   separated by the heavenly shepherd and Lord. The earthly shepherd   
   separates animals by their type of body, whereas Christ separates   
   people by their type of soul. The sheep signify righteous people by   
   reason of their gentleness, because they harm no one, and by reason of   
   their patience, because when they are harmed by others, they bear it   
   without resistance. He refers to sinners as goats, however, because   
   these vices characterize goats--capriciousness toward other animals,   
   pride and belligerence."   
    by an anonymous early author from the Greek church (excerpt from   
   INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 54, the Greek fathers).   
      
      
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   February 18th – St. Simeon of Jerusalem   
   crucified in 106   
      
   This is a Saint who strove for the truth, even unto death, and feared   
   not the words of sinful men, forasmuch as he was founded upon a sure   
   foundation.   
      
   Saint Simeon of Jerusalem was the second bishop of Jerusalem, and   
   martyr for the faith. Saint Simeon succeeded his brother, Saint James   
   the Lesser, during the persecution of Christians in Jerusalem. He led   
   the early church in that city for nearly 50 years until his martyrdom.   
      
   Simeon was the son of Cleophas, otherwise called Alpheus. His brothers   
   included Saint James the Lesser, Saint Jude the Apostle, and another   
   brother named Joseph. Alpheus, according to tradition, was Saint   
   Joseph’s brother, making Saint Simeon the first cousin of Jesus.   
      
   Simeon is mentioned only three times in the Holy Scriptures, in the   
   Gospels of Matthew and Mark, and in the Acts of the Apostles. When   
   Jesus preached in His hometown and was poorly received, Simeon was   
   present:   
      
   53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. 54   
   Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their   
   synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom   
   and these miraculous powers?” they asked. 55 “Isn’t this the   
   carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers   
   James, Joseph, Simeon and Judas? 56 Aren’t all his sisters with us?   
   Where then did this man get all these things?” 57 And they took   
   offense at him.   
      
   But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his   
   own town and in his own home.”   
      
   58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of   
   faith. (Matthew 13: 53-58)   
      
   Later from the Acts of the Apostles, it appears that Saint Simeon was   
   involved in the Church at Antioch:   
      
   1 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers:   
   Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been   
   brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 2 While they were   
   worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for   
   me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 So   
   after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and   
   sent them off. (Acts, 13:1-3)   
      
   From these brief notations in the Scriptures, and from his lineage, we   
   cannot doubt that Simeon was an early and zealous follower of Christ.   
   He appears to have grown up in the family home in Nazareth, and was   
   likely present during the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.   
      
   According to tradition, Simeon’s brother was appointed the first   
   Bishop of Jerusalem. The Pharisees, anxious regarding the growing   
   Christian movement, decided to kill Saint James the Lesser. Upon their   
   throwing him from the temple mount and stoning him, Saint Simeon   
   boldly denounced them for murder. It was then, in the year 62 (29   
   years after the death of Jesus), that Saint Simeon was unanimously   
   chosen as the second Bishop of Jerusalem. From this, historians assume   
   that he was already living in Jerusalem, and likely assisting his   
   brother with the governing of the early Church.   
      
   As Eusebius recorded Saint Simeon’s election:   
      
   “After the martyrdom of James and the conquest of Jerusalem which   
   immediately followed, it is said that those of the apostles and   
   disciples of the Lord that were still living came together from all   
   directions with those that were related to the Lord according to the   
   flesh (for the majority of them also were still alive) to take counsel   
   as to who was worthy to succeed James. They all with one consent   
   pronounced Symeon, the son of Clopas, of whom the Gospel also makes   
   mention; to be worthy of the episcopal throne of that parish. He was a   
   cousin, as they say, of the Savior. For Hegesippus records that Clopas   
   was a brother of Joseph.”   
      
   Several years later, in the year 66 or 67, civil war broke out   
   throughout Judea, between the Jews and the Romans. During this time,   
   Saint Peter and Paul suffered martyrdom in Rome. Saint Simeon was   
   warned in a dream that the Christians of Jerusalem were in great peril   
   due to the upcoming destruction of the city, and as a result, the   
   Saint led them from the city. The group of Christian Jews settled in a   
   small city named Pella (across the Jordan River), and did not return   
   until the Roman Emperor had burnt Jerusalem to the ground. Saint   
   Simeon led his Church back to Jerusalem, setting amid the ruins   
      
   Within a few years, the Church flourished again, with many Jews   
   converting and embracing the faith. Throughout this time, great   
   persecutions were enacted against Christians by Emperors Vespasian and   
   Domitian, but each time, Saint Simeon escaped detection. When Emperor   
   Trajan renewed the same decree persecution, however, Saint Simeon was   
   discovered and condemned to crucifixion.   
      
   Saint Simeon, at this point in his life, was of greatly advanced age,   
   likely around 120 years old. Unwilling to recant his faith, he proudly   
   proclaimed the Gospel to all who would listen, all the while enduring   
   all types of torture. Simeon was affixed to a cross, which he embraced   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)