The Holy Season of Lent
Dear Friend of St. Jude,
No question, some days are harder than others. We have certainly seen our share of challenging times over these past few months amid the stories of heartache, devastation and fear in our world. For each of us, there are days when our own personal woes and anxieties can seem overwhelming and it is hard to hold on to hope.
During the holy season of Lent, I encourage you to ask St. Jude – our beloved Saint of Hopeless Causes – to intercede for you during difficult times and give you strength to find hope in our Risen Savior. St. Jude Thaddeus, as Jesus’ cousin and one of His twelve chosen apostles, witnessed Christ’s ministries for himself. Following Christ’s Resurrection, St. Jude dedicated himself to sharing the hope of life everlasting.
Lent is a sacred and meaningful time of reflection, self-examination and spiritual growth as we unite more fully with Christ through meditation on His passion, death, and Resurrection. During Lent we are called to engage in prayer, fasting, and almsgiving as we look beyond ourselves to others who suffer injustice, poverty and oppression, and to open our hearts and make sacrifices for those in need just as Christ did.
I know times are tough, but I humbly ask you to please open your heart today to bring the love of Christ into the lives of others during this holy season. As you walk with Christ through Lent and prepare for Easter and the joyful event of His Resurrection, I pray you will join with us, the Pallottine priests and brothers, with a Lenten offering to assist our ministries in 54 countries around the world.
Your generous gift will help us serve women and children in some of the world’s poorest countries who cry out in pain, heartache and the despair of being forgotten and abandoned. Your compassion and generosity will help us deliver tangible aid that saves children from starvation, nourishes families with food, brings clean water to places where there is none, shelters refugees from danger, supplies medical care to heal the sick, and so much more. Your generosity helps to give them the strength to believe and hold on.
Every day our Pallottine missionaries work to deliver hope and help to those in desperate need, just as St. Jude, through his intercession, brings help and hope to us in our time of need.
Since 1917, we Pallottines have been entrusted with the Nationwide Center of St. Jude Devotions in Baltimore, Maryland. Here at St. Jude Shrine, we welcome the petitions of people looking for peace, hope and healing as we turn to St. Jude for his intercession. Every day I receive letters of testimony of St. Jude’s blessings and aid with the most difficult situations and seemingly hopeless circumstances.
“Recently I asked for prayers for my brother Tom with his esophageal cancer. This week, they did a scan and the tumor is completely gone! No sign of it at all! I know all our prayers must have made a difference. He was so sick and now he is able to eat again and has a wonderful prognosis. God is indeed great!” – Kristine
“I visited St. Jude Shrine when I was unemployed and running out of money. My prayer was answered the same day! I called my old employer to ask if I could use her as a reference, and she offered me my old job back! St. Jude will always have my gratitude.” – Evelyn
“Thank you St. Jude! I prayed to you to intercede for me and you gave me peace. Two upcoming events were causing me tremendous anxiety, and because of you, turned out to be some of the most memorable and wonderful times of my life. Thank you, St. Jude, for helping me to trust and to let go of my fears.” – Denise
Please accept my personal invitation to join our Circle of Hope and pray with us for the miraculous power of St. Jude to touch you and your loved ones.
Please send me your most pressing petitions on our website so that we may lift your petitions in prayer during our Novenas and Masses held here at the Shrine. You will also be remembered in the Masses that are said on the tomb of St. Jude in the Vatican.
May this Lent be filled with healing, peace and hope through the intercession of St. Jude and our Lord Jesus Christ.
In Christ, our Crucified and Risen Lord,
Fr. Peter Sticco, S.A.C.
Novena Director
P.S. Your gift today helps support all our Pallottine ministries, particularly our St. Jude Shrine and the poor we serve. Please be as generous as you are able and don’t forget to send your prayer requests so they may be remembered in our prayers, Masses and Novenas at our Shrine, and on the tomb of St. Jude in the Vatican.
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