Day 4: Contend for the faith

On the fourth day of the Saint Jude Novena, we open the brief but theologically dense Letter of Jude in the New Testament, attributed by the apostolic tradition to Saint Jude himself. The Letter exhorts the Christians of the first century to contend for the faith, to persevere in the love of God, and to keep themselves from the errors that threatened the early Church. The themes of perseverance and being kept by God are the foundation of today's prayer.

Today's meditation

The Letter of Jude is the second-to-last book of the New Testament, just before the Apocalypse of Saint John. It is short (twenty-five verses) and was written in the apostolic era to Christian communities troubled by false teachers. The opening salutation places the Apostle in his proper relation to the Lord: "Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ" (Jude 1).

Notice the words kept for Jesus Christ. The Apostle's confidence is not in the power of the Christian to persevere by his own strength but in the keeping power of God. This is the same theology that closes the letter in its famous doxology: "Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you without blemish before the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and for ever" (Jude 24-25).

The cause we have brought to Saint Jude is, in this light, a request that the Lord through His Apostle's intercession would keep what we cannot keep ourselves. The marriage we cannot save by our own efforts. The child we cannot reach by our own pleading. The illness we cannot heal by our own resources. The Lord is able to keep, and that ability is the foundation of our prayer today.

Today's intention

Bring your intention again, with the words of the Apostle Saint Jude himself in mind. Lord Jesus, keep this matter, which I cannot keep myself. Then pray:

Most holy Apostle, Saint Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the Church honors and invokes you universally, as the patron of difficult cases, of things almost despaired of. Pray for me, who am so miserable. Make use, I implore you, of that particular privilege accorded to you, to bring visible and speedy help where help was almost despaired of. Come to my assistance in this great need, that I may receive the consolations and succor of heaven in all my necessities, tribulations, and sufferings, particularly (name your request), and that I may praise God with you and all the elect forever. I promise you, O blessed Saint Jude, to be ever mindful of this great favor, to always honor you as my special and powerful patron, and to gratefully encourage devotion to you. Amen.

Reflection

The Apostle Jude exhorts his hearers in verse 20: "But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God; wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." These four imperatives ( build, pray, keep, wait ) are a compact rule of life for the Christian in distress, and they are the Apostle's own counsel to us today.

Build yourselves up on your most holy faith. In the day of trial, the practices of the faith (the sacramental life, the rosary, spiritual reading, the keeping of the Sunday) become not optional but essential. They are the scaffolding by which the soul is held upright when the natural supports of life have given way.

Pray in the Holy Spirit. The Catholic prays not only with the lips but with the heart, asking the Spirit Himself to pray within him when he no longer knows how to pray. "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words" (Romans 8:26).

Keep yourselves in the love of God. This is the active form of the keeping that God Himself does. The soul cooperates with grace by remaining in His love, by refusing to despair, by clinging to the One who has promised never to leave it.

Wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. The waiting is the form trust takes when the answer has not yet come.

Closing prayers

Pray three times each: the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Glory Be.

Saint Jude, Apostle and inspired author, intercede that we may build, pray, keep, and wait, until the mercy of the Lord is revealed.