Author: Father Bel R. San Luis, SVD, of the Philippines (in Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation online). Source link here (connection problems in accessing the source article may occur from time to time)
Somebody once said, "Prayer has a way of influencing events and penetrating the minds of people which human reason and science cannot explain."
That was proven in the case of Jenny Apor, a partially disabled girl coming from a poor family in Cebu, on that unforgettable July 16, 2002 when she won the biggest-ever jackpot in Philippine game show history amounting R3.5 million.
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Throughout the quiz show, "Game Ka Na Ba," she was clutching a novena booklet to St. Jude Thaddeus, fervently praying.
For the jackpot question, Kris Aquino, host of "Game KNB," asked: "Who was the Filipino front singer when the Beatles sang in Manila in the 1960s?"
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Jenny was tongue-tied. Her face told it all – she didn’t know the answer. "I don’t know…" she stammered. Kris coaxed her, "Just say any name of a singer, even if it’s wrong."
Jenny blurted out from nowhere: "Pilita Corales!" And her guess was correct! Overwhelmed with joy, the handicapped girl brought home the P3.5 million jackpot.
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In the same vein, Kris Aquino was herself a recipient of such a special favor from St. Jude. Kris at 18 years wanted so much to enter showbiz but her mother, then President Cory Aquino, put her foot down.
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Kris was undaunted. Instead of sulking, the determined girl resorted to praying novenas to St. Jude at the archdiocesan shrine in San Miguel, Manila, a stone’s throw away from where she lived then, Malacañang.
She surely got her prayer granted because soon she entered showbiz. (But we know her love life suffered a setback. Apparently that wasn’t included in her petition to St. Jude).
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The favor through St. Jude’s intercession is inexplicable. No wonder St. Jude Thaddeus is the saint of the impossible or hopeless cases. To be precise, it’s not "hopeless" but "difficult cases."
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Another testimony comes from a lady acquaintance of mine whom I hadn’t met for some years but suddenly popped up at St. Jude Parish where I used to reside. Celia (not her real name) confided that her marriage was floundering after her husband had left them to work in Japan.
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"In the beginning, we communicated frequently but afterwards correspondence came in trickles until it stopped. I heard he had a live-in partner," she said. "When he came home for vacation, he didn’t even stay with us preferring the company of the other woman’s relatives," she added.
"I wanted to save our family. So instead of giving up, I made novenas to St. Jude every Thursday commuting, rain or shine, from Bulacan to Manila."
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Not too long afterwards when I met Celia, she was all excited. "Father, it’s a miracle," she gushed. After about two years separated from her husband, she related that out of the blue her husband called up to say hello and ask about the children.
"I couldn’t believe it," she said. "My husband mailed a nine-page letter explaining everything. He said he was coming home to us."
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Among other things, he confided he left his live-in partner because after the "honeymoon" period, they had been constantly quarreling. (Did St. Jude cause it?).
Anyway, the last thing I heard was that Celia together with the children joined her husband in Japan.
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The testimonies of Jenny Apor and Celia should indeed strengthen our faith in prayer and the miraculous power of St. Jude Thaddeus.
Do you have a difficult problem? Go to St. Jude.
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