Something or someone once brought us to our initial awareness of St. Jude and his unique role as the Patron of Hope. As we learned more about this gentle but determined Apostle, our interest turned to devotion. Our prayers often are more like conversations . . . we honor, we petition, we cry, we hope, and we are grateful.
In maintaining our active devotion to St. Jude, we have cultivated a spiritual advantage that helps us regularly grow closer to God’s powerful love. Through frequent prayer energized by the hope of St. Jude, we are part of a particularly strong channel of trust and hope that leads us to appreciate more deeply God’s gifts to us.
In addition to the gifts, of which St. Jude is certainly one, this “extra” channel of prayer and spiritual commitment gives us more experience, more opportunities to appreciate some of the depth of what God offers us even as He calls on us to not despair when we work through our struggles and our pain.
Just as our prayers to St. Jude transform our lives, we also hold transformative power within us to bring God to the people we love who are in need. We can start by listening and really hearing them; we can introduce them to St. Jude and his unique role in our Church; and we can offer to pray with them. In addition to all that, we know we can always pray for them . . . and start yet another conversation with St. Jude.