Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles
Saint Jude is known as a patron saint for those in desperate or impossible situations who pray for his intercession through faith and perseverance. Countless miracles have been attributed to St. Jude's intercession. But above all, he is a patron saint of prayer, not magic. We can pray to Saint Jude to ask for his intercession in difficult situations, but this is not a magical formula. Instead, it is viewed as an act of faith and persistence, trusting in God's grace. Often in this life, we want an immediate answer or to see the result in front of us. But God does not work in that way, and our faith does not mean magic. So, prayer to St. Jude does not mean we will get what we want immediately. Yes, sometimes the answer is immediate, but often God takes His own time to respond, or He answers in unexpected ways.
Our existence is just a tiny piece of reality in the universe, and we cannot see the big picture simply from our perspective. As if we were just a little brick, we cannot see the whole building from the standpoint of one brick. In his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul used the metaphor of a house, as a building that is framed together. In erecting any building, four stages are requisite. First is the foundation of the edifice, second is the construction, third is its increase, and fourth is the completion. The foundation is the apostles and prophets with Christ as the cornerstone. To construct the building, we need the workers, that is, the sanctified soul. Then this building is erected when good works are built upon Christ. It also grows when a man makes progress in good works, and he grows in grace to the degree that he becomes a holy temple. So, the bottom line is we often do not see the bigger picture of our cry or our demand for an answer from God because we cannot see God's whole plan. For that reason, we need to trust in God's plan.