TO ST. SIMON THE APOSTLE / by Joe Castorino

You were a zealot against the Romans,

  Whom you terribly wanted to crush,

Perhaps you dreamt of spearing their skulls,

  And watching their bright blood gush;

But Jesus of Nazareth was meek and mild,

  And he turned the other cheek,

When He healed the Roman’s servant,

  Did you think the Messiah was weak?

 

But Jesus spoke to rich and poor

  With an amazing proclamatory power,

And before no man -- Jew or Roman --

  Did He ever stoop or cower;

His multitudinous miracles filled your

  Heart with amazement and with awe,

Almost imperceptibly you came to realize

  That He was the fulfillment of the law.

 

Some say that you were cruelly crucified,

  Just like Our Most Blessed Lord,

Others say you were sawed in two,

  With your body savagely and brutally gored;

Either way, the acid anger of hate corroded

  The malicious murderers’ brains,

While in your holy heart God’s Spirit

  Everlastingly and eternally reigns.