By T.K. Wilson
There is very little recorded of the personal life of St. Jude Thaddeus in the Bible. What we do know is that he was the brother or cousin of Our Lord; the son of Mary, wife of Cleopas; and brother of James the Lesser, bishop of Jerusalem. He was often confused with Judas Iscariot (technically his name is Judas) so the writers and the apostle himself call him Jude or Thaddeus, which means “courageous heart” or “friend of God”.
When commissioned as an Apostle, St. Jude traveled with Simon the Zealot throughout the ancient Near East including Turkey, modern Armenia, Kuwait, and Syria. While he was ministering, he wrote the short epistle that bears his name, which admonishes the Jewish church to persevere in trials, for which he was named the patron of hope and impossible causes. He was likely martyred in Beirut, Syria or in Edessa, Armenia, with his remains being transferred to Rome later on.
Most famously, St. Jude is the patron of St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, which treats the most desperate children in the gravest of circumstances. This came about because of comedian Danny Thomas, who pleaded for St. Jude’s help to support his family, promising to make St. Jude from forgotten to famous if he did so. Danny’s prayer was answered when he became a beloved face on TV, on the stage, and through radio. Eventually, Danny fulfilled his end of the promise, starting St. Jude’s Hospital to treat the untreatable.
May we be content to be unnoticed, as St. Jude was, doing our duty for Our Lord.
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