The Arm of St. Jude

Several weeks ago, I read in our church bulletin that the Arm of St. Jude relic was coming to our parish.  I didn't know a lot about it, but was very interested in seeing it.  The next day, the church called to see if I would help sell souvenirs at the event.  I thought that would be a great way to support the church and would give me a chance to be involved.  

I arrived today at 12:30 for my shift, a little nervous as I didn't know what to expect.  When I walked into the church, they were just starting to set up for today's exhibition.  The entourage accompanying the relic had gotten stuck in an hour's worth of traffic.  I didn't mind the lateness as I really enjoyed watching the process.  It felt like they were getting ready for a rock concert.  There was center stage to unpack, banners to be hung and souvenir tables to get ready.  The men from the church working this afternoon even reminded me of a road crew.

It didn't take very long, but because we had to wait an hour to begin helping, the priest in charge of the relic allowed us to ask for a blessing from St. Jude before other parishioners arrived.  Hearing the priest talk about St. Jude knowing that the relic was on display in our church was awe inspiring.  Jude Thaddeus was the first cousin to Jesus.  The priest reminded us several times that the bone on display had been part of the arm that had hugged Jesus and Mary many times.  I was amazed.  It was the first time that I had thought of Jesus as a real person and not just the Son of God.  

I spent the rest of the afternoon working the souvenir table and had a lot of fun.  It reminded me of my days at the garage sale as I had to add all of the merchandise in my head and make change quickly.  It was also packed as there were a lot of people buying souvenirs to take with them during their time of veneration with St. Jude.  By the time that I had left with my own remembrances of the day, I know that I had watched at least five hundred people file through the church.  I could not stop talking about the experience when I picked up Doug from work.  I was excited to share it with my children as well.  What a wonderful way to spend the day, one that I will long remember.