HOLY HOMEWORK

Saints and Souls for Help and Inspiration

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During the biblical Jewish exile whenever Moses was in trouble, he would go to the meeting tent to seek God's help. A cloud would descend over them while they spoke face to face (Exodus 33:9). Today, more than 2,500 years later, when we are in trouble, we also find the time to meet with God and beg for his help in making our dark clouds of pain and suffering go away. However, nowadays there is a silver lining. Catholics also have thousands of saints we can call upon to intercede on our behalf. This month we celebrate our relationship with all the saints; those who are very well known, and others who are still being discovered.

Jude Thaddeus

Which saint can we turn to for assistance if we are desperate, even to the point of being close to giving up? Who is the patron of hopeless cases, lost causes, and the impossible? He was one of the 12 apostles who were handpicked by Christ. Unfortunately his name echoes the title of the traitor who betrayed Jesus. But he is not Judas Iscariot. He is Jude Thaddeus.

Americans may be more familiar with this saint than we realize. Ten months ago I had the good fortune of securing tickets to the “Doctor Oz” television show, which is recorded here in NYC. As luck would have it, one of his guests was the 75-year-old TV actress, Marlo Thomas, the daughter of Danny Thomas, who, in 1962, founded the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Tennessee.

During the interview Marlo told Doctor Oz that when all other hospitals fail, parents take their terminally ill child to Memphis. Likewise if we're ever faced with an unfathomable problem and everything around us is failing, we can go to St. Jude. If anyone can help, he can.

Although we may not know many facts about his life and martyrdom directly, we can be certain that this saint is a powerful mediator for those in need. We know this because people from several different faith traditions seek his support. St. Jude is honored in Roman and Orthodox Catholicism, in Anglican and Lutheran churches, and also in Islam. St. Jude, patron of hopeless cases, pray for us.

Cornelia Connelly

Whose courage can we imitate if we find ourselves falling on hard times or when we're blanketed by misfortune? Should we strive to follow some mythical, muscle-bound hero? Or is it better to look to a devout, kind-hearted mortal whose faith would surpass the strength of Hercules? Venerable Cornelia Connelly was an ordinary woman whose love for Christ and devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows gained her extraordinary valor and uncommon serenity in the face of adversity. We can attest that she weathered tragedies and heartaches in life through tearful eyes anchored in a holy heart of peace and calm.

Born in Philadelphia on Jan. 15, 1809, Cornelia married an Episcopal priest and bore five children. But not all of the births were easy. While she was grieving the death of a premature daughter, her 2-year-old son died in her arms after suffering 43 hours of agonizing pain from a horrible burn accident. When she was pregnant with their fifth child, her husband decided to leave her.

Cornelia moved to Europe with two of her youngest children, converted to Catholicism, and received permission from the Church to become a nun. She founded a religious order of women who established schools for needy children. Her sisters also offered day, night, and weekend classes to educate poor factory workers as well. Although her ministry flourished, Cornelia suffered even more trials when her husband fought for legal custody of their children. He was hoping that such proceedings would force Cornelia to leave the convent and return to him as his wife. Despite these lawsuits she remained faithful to God and to her vocation. The Church proclaimed her Venerable in 1992.

When considering the stresses and temptations of life, she once wrote: It is precisely because you are called to live busy lives that you must also lead a life of prayer. We can imitate this remarkably strong woman by praying to God for the virtue of courage through the intercession of Venerable Cornelia Connelly.

For Holy Homework

Today there are more than 50 Americans whose names are being presented to the Vatican for the cause of canonization. This month as we honor all saints and pray for all souls, let's select one favorite saint and search online for one new, little-known saint. Then, through their intercession, we can promise to meet with God face to face every day, rain or shine, in clear skies or in clouds.

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