St. Jason

What we know about Jason comes mainly from the book of Acts. St. Paul stayed at Jason’s house while visiting Thessalonica (Acts 17: 1-9). Paul was making converts and some of the Jews in city grew jealous. An unruly mob looked for Paul at Jason’s house and when they could not find the apostle, they dragged Jason and some other Christians to the city’s rulers, accusing them of setting up Jesus as king instead of Caesar. It is not clear if Jason and the others were beaten by the mob, but they were let go when “security” was taken from them, which must have meant a monetary payment. It is likely that this Jason is the relative that Paul mentions in his letter to the Romans. According to a Greek legend Jason was bishop of Tarsus and evangelized the island of Corfu, but a Syrian tradition recounts that he evangelized around Apanea and died as a martyr there. St. Jason’s feast is July 12.