Do you need a miracle? Is there some impossible situation that you can’t figure out? 

Meet Saint Jude—patron saint of impossible causes. 

Jude is one of the most famous saints of all time. There are countless shrines in his honor across the world, and millions of people go to him with their most desperate needs. Jude was one of Jesus’ twelve Apostles, but he wasn’t just a random fisherman. Jude was the first cousin of Jesus, the son of Mary of Clopas. He also wrote one of the New Testament Epistles. He preached the Gospel far and wide. He healed in Jesus’ name. And his faith was so strong that he died for it as a martyr. 

Jude showed the world that when you follow God, anything is possible. 

Christians should be the ultimate people of possibility. But too often we are people of impossibility. Suggest that something new or different be done in your community and often all you will hear are reasons why it can’t be done. “We don’t have enough money.” “Too many other things going on.” “It won’t work.” “People won’t come.” “We’ve tried something like that before.” 

It’s not always easy to be a person of possibility when you’re looking at the Church, or the world, or even your own life. But there is one thing that will give you hope: Christianity has never failed. It is simply incapable of failure. Many have failed to live the Christianity they professed, but that is human failure, not the failure of Christianity. Whenever and wherever the teachings of Jesus have been taken seriously, the results have been astounding, and yet remarkably similar.

Throughout history, over and over again, when someone has wholeheartedly embraced Jesus and his teachings, that person has been transformed from a shadow of his real self into a shining example of what the human person is actually capable of when we allow God to direct our lives. Men and women of all faiths who cross paths with that person have been lovingly challenged to reconsider their own lives. Many have been won to new and exciting relationships with God through that person’s example. They in turn spread compassion, joy, and wisdom to others who cross their path. Every man and woman who embraces the teachings of Jesus sets off an astounding domino effect of love of God and neighbor. Christianity works. 

It worked in Saint Jude’s time and it works in ours. How will you be a person of possibility today?



Feast Day: October 28

Feast Day Shared By: Saint Simon

Patron Saint of: Impossible Causes, Desperate Situations, and Hospitals

Also Known As: Jude Thaddeus

Symbols: A Club and Flames