In Catholic tradition, St. Jude is the patron of desperate causes and fortitude by faith in Christ. I have called on St. Jude many times for intercession and God has heard the prayers. In Catholic tradition intercessory prayer from a saint is calling on a saint to pray with you to Christ - praying to Jude is not praying to Jude but to God to hear the prayers of all the Saints and Angels and our own prayers. God's listening to our prayers is an act of mercy and a show of His grace even when justice is demanding payment for sin. Christ has paid the debt. Jude shows us that no matter how desperate life gets - when we have Christ we have life eternal and in Christ, even in nothing we have everything.
Jude says don't give up on Christ - but be the light of Christ in the darkest spaces - through faith - sometimes we may be stripped of material possessions, our bodies bruised and our spirit humbled - still we find freedom and abundance in the grace of Christ - for did Christ not suffer in the hope of God's mercy and power to restore life?
Our freedom in Christ is a call to obedience to Christ - for by freedom in Christ we give up our will because we freely recognize the will of God is superior to our human errors and inclinations and that with God and by God only then can we find strength and healing in a desperate world - only in God can we be the light to brighten the entire world.
Jude's primary focus is on false teachers and the necessity of keeping our hearts and eyes set on Christ. He warns that darkness of deception is often found in those claiming to be in communion with Christ's teaching - only to lead people astray - this is a struggle in our times as churches deal with those who work against Christ's love while claiming their loyalty to His word. We can see an example of this in the darkness of sin. Sin tries to hide behind rationale and weakness, sin strives to work in plain sight through ordinary tasks and sin usurps the Truth by pretending to be the light of God - leading Christians to error and hate. We see this in many churches that use Christ to preach hate and bigotry. This is not the work of Christ but of the darkness hiding but not silent in human hearts.
Sin is a separation from God and nothing good is apart from God. When we are severed from God we lose our life force, our being and our light - anything apart from God is futile and is treacherous - while in this world evil often seems to win - this is an illusion. Christ on the cross has already won the war over death and darkness...sin does not have final say in our lives unless we shut out the light of Christ.
Shutting out the light of Christ is blaspheming against the Holy Spirit and when the light of God is completely taken away we are dead - even if the flesh lives - darkness cannot overcome the light - but it is our duty to seek for the light of all creation in God's revealed presence - Jesus Christ.
When we allow sin to rule our hearts - when we adjust our sight to the darkness instead of looking to the light of God, we become lost. God searches for us but unless we turn to him, we will wander and our life in the flesh without the spirit cannot sustain itself. Anger, bitterness, rage, ego, power, hate, false teachings and all the vices that darken the light of the world - are a poison that is a drug we will consume perhaps at first with great power - but whereas God offers us a Spirit of power that will give us life, the spirit of darkness will consume us and leave the soul dead and kill the flesh in time.
The expression that the devil is in the details is the tangled premise of our fight in the complex battle of light and dark. Light, no matter how dim cannot be extinguished by darkness...light can extinguish darkness...yet in times of trial we often fail to perceive the light in our hearts and in our surroundings - we become too focused on the desperation at our feet instead of the perspective of God's eternal grace, even in hardship.
Christ HIMSELF died for the Light and in His death reversed the cycle of death conquering life, for his death brought life for in Him no sin was to be found.
Jude warns that the devil uses the false light of the flesh to lead us astray - evil infiltrates the church and our hearts. And while the church has endured schisms and scandals - we can rest assured that Christ is not corrupted - Christ is true, noble and just and will condemn the wicked, particularly those who malign HIS church and people with false doctrine.
So often false doctrine is so littered with Truth that it is easy to get confused at first glance - particularly in the prosperity church movement. How can we trust God's work int he world - where is God? This is why prayer is essential and contemplation can open our hearts to truth - God wants us to dig past the surface - to excavate and analyze and trust His Sacred Heart. The Holy Spirit will guide us against false doctrine - but we must listen by setting down our ego and greed and letting the light in.
We are all sinners - we all must reconcile ourselves in penance and grace to Christ - and when we falter - we cannot fall into desperation that forsakes Christ, but rather we must cling to the desperate hope against hope that God is all good; God is just and provident and Our Redeemer lives.
St. Jude has been my patron saint for several years and an inspiration to me. St. Jude's Epistle is an excellent manual in our discernment of light, the true light of Christ against the darkness we often fail to recognize. Jude warns and admonishes, yet Jude also encourages and blesses - for in Christ we have judgment and abundant mercy.
As we proclaim the Gospel in the world - as living temples of the Holy Spirit may we persevere in always leaning in towards God's truth and HIS teachings - able to represent Christ on earth by our actions, deeds, words and in our sin - may we not hide in darkness but step out in the light of grace and admit our error so we can find healing and lead others to the forgiving power of Christ.
While darkness may destroy our sight - remember Christ is always kindled - burning and a light for dark spaces - even in the most desperate of times - Christ will never leave us.
Epistle of Jude:
A Call to Persevere
17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” 19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.[f]
Doxology
24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
Novena To
St. Jude
Most holy Apostle, St. Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the Church honors and invokes you universally, as the patron of difficult cases, of things almost despaired of, Pray for me, I am so helpless and alone.
Intercede with God for me that He bring visible and speedy help where help is almost despaired of. Come to my assistance in this great need that I may receive the consolation and help of heaven in all my necessities, tribulations, and sufferings, particularly -
(make your request here)
- and that I may praise God with you and all the saints forever. I promise, O Blessed St. Jude, to be ever mindful of this great favor granted me by God and to always honor you as my special and powerful patron, and to gratefully encourage devotion to you.
Amen
PRAYER
May the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, and loved in all the tabernacles until the end of time. Amen.
May the most Sacred Heart of Jesus be praised and glorified now and forever. Amen
St. Jude pray for us and hear our prayers. Amen.
Blessed be the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Blessed be the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Blessed be St. Jude Thaddeus, in all the world and for all Eternity.
(say this prayer, followed by the Our Father and theHail Mary)
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