Séamus Ó Fianghusa (Fennessy) - Heaven Help Us, Now!: A Self Help Guide to Gods Own First Responder, St. Jude Thaddeus

HEAVEN HELP US, NOW!

A Self-Help Guide to Gods Own First Responder, St. Jude Thaddeus

By Samus Fianghusa (Fennessy)

Im r Blasta

Copyright 20 by Samus Fianghusa (Fennessy)

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for attributed use of quotations.

Published by Im r Blasta, LLC.

Old Bridge, NJ.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021905987

ISBN 978-1-7369229-2-7 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-7369229-1-0 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-7369229-0-3 (ebook)

Coverartby Pixel Clan

Art direction bySamus Fianghusa (Fennessy)

Cover image based on mosaic icon of St. Jude Thaddeus, Virgin Mary Melkite Catholic Church, Brooklyn, NY

www.imurblasta.com

Do Phapa,

An tdar Fin,

Ag coimhed ar a shaothar

Shuaimhneas na bhFlaitheas

I am afraid that any attempt to fully name all those to whom I owe my success would require a book of its own. But I would be remiss if I did not at least make an attempt to identify some of the culprits.

I undertook this project acutely aware of the debt I owe to the generations of my lineage that preceded me. Without the thoroughly Celtic and Christian values of my kin, the Clann Fianghusa, I would be nothing and have nothing to pass on. Outside of my family, these values are most tangibly embodied in my brothers of the 69th Infantry, the Fighting Irish of New York. I also carry with me the combat lessons I learned with my brothers of the Mountain Cavalry of Vermonts Green Mountain Boys. Scouts Out, Fg an Bealach!

The wider Fennessy family has always been a powerful network of loyalty and love. My uncles have always shown themselves to be the essence of manhood. My aunts, and my Nana, and Gigi have been the heroines of my life. Endless love to them all. I thank my mother, the first human I bonded with. I thank my father, who more than anybody alive planted in me the love of God, family, and country. I thank my little sisters Mary Helen and Aileen, my first lessons in responsibility, always supportive, always loving.

To those of my family who rest in blessed repose and eternal memory, I am grateful beyond words. My Papa, to whom Heaven Help Us, Now! is dedicated, was the author of an eternal legacy. My dear (great) Aunt Margie, a bride of Christ her kindness was legendary and her influence profound. And I keep always before me my three children, three sons, who never made it to birth but who preceded me in getting to where I want to go. In so many visible and invisible ways they guide and guard me, their mother, and their sisters.

My stepdaughter Olivia, affectionately known as Blast; she has given me much spiritual food for thought, for which I thank her. I give my heartfelt thanks and love to my wife Deirdre our amazing journey together brought St. Jude Thaddeus into our lives, and he continues on with us. And my dear, sweet daughter ine, Rs na Gaeilge, she is the living beat of my heart.

I am so excited to be able to bring you Heaven Help Us, Now!, the single most comprehensive self-help guide to St. Jude Thaddeus the Apostle yet published. It is the first public fruit of my years of involvement with a saint who has rightfully captured the heartfelt devotion of so many people of so many backgrounds throughout the years. I started writing it as a personal thanksgiving to heaven for the incredible blessings my family and I have received through the intercession of St. Jude. I will just lay it out for you right now that my purpose is to inspire as many people as I can to pray to him for help with their most difficult situations. Calling on St. Jude in the manner I lay out in this book is a sure path to alleviating so much unnecessary suffering in the world.

The lessons in this book are perennial; however, the message seems particularly appropriate for these times! Just in the span of time I wrote this book we have had the COVID-19 pandemic, civil unrest and violence, crazy happenings in China, you name it the list goes on. But whether the world is in chaos or at peace, in a way it really doesnt matter. I cant imagine that we will ever not need the help of heaven and the prayers of the Apostle Jude. After all, is there ever a time when there is nobody in need?

The man of the hour, St. Jude Thaddeus, is one of Gods dearest friends. He is the patron saint of desperate difficulties , hopeless cases , impossible situations , and lost causes . People today do not follow saints the way they do entertainment celebrities. This is a shame; the saints are far more worthy of adulation. But Jude was the rare holy figure who rose to a mainstream celebrity status back in the 20th Century. It is about time for Gods own first responder to make a comeback in the popular consciousness, given the distressing nature of our times.

I only want to ask you to do ONE THING: give it a chance! You have absolutely nothing to lose, and have a lot to potentially gain. Everything I lay out is solidly grounded in the truth there is nothing made up or phony. This is the real deal. I encourage you to read on.

Heaven Help Us, Now! offers a fresh take on the devotion to St. Jude Thaddeus in my attempt to explain it to a new generation. There are many details included in other printed material on the saint which I do not include here. On the other hand, there is a lot here that I have not seen printed anywhere else. Its not the point of this book to put forth every known fact about the saint. In this I take inspiration from the Gospel of John as it stands in relation to the other three Gospels. St. John kind of does his own thing; he leaves out details about Jesus that are well covered in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but has a large quantity of material unique only to his work and covered nowhere else.

The fresh take on St. Jude that I bring to the table is one of presentation; the substance is actually not new at all. I merely connect dots that are already there, rather than draw new dots. The faith expressed in these pages is the same faith Jude Thaddeus himself preached all those centuries ago, which he in turn received directly from Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

I have written this book with the goal of allowing it to be easily readable, edifying, and enjoyable to those who are not Catholic religious professionals, or even Catholic. The tone and style of this book are entirely my own. If you like or even love it, then great, I am honored. Thats what I pray for, of course.

If you dont like it, I pray you will have pity on my attempt. As the writer of the Second Book of Maccabees said, If it is well told and to the point, that is what I myself desired; if it is poorly done and mediocre, that was the best I could do (15:38).

Some Comments on Usage and Terminology

You will notice that pronouns referring to God are capitalized, unless they are not capitalized in the source of a quote. Capitalizing He and Him is a pious tradition but not strictly necessary. However, I have found it to be a handy device for making the Lord stick out on the page, so I have made it standard in this book.

By Gospel we mean literally, Good News. This is the final and definitive divine revelation given to us by Jesus Christ, the Son of God. By Christian we mean a baptized follower of Jesus Christ. As an adjective it refers to that which pertains to His teachings and to the community of His followers known as the Church. By Catholic we mean total, universal, referring to the Church in which the totality of the Christian Gospel lives and which extends the Lords universal