When 40-year-old Jason collapsed one day, doctors delivered devastating news: stage four cancer, fast-moving and rare. He was given only a few weeks to live. But his family, rooted in prayer and trust, refused to lose hope.
Cindy Govecar, Jason’s sister, joined Drew on The Drew Mariani Show to recall the time their large family of ten siblings and thirteen grandchildren rallied around him. “We were devastated,” she said. “But I’ve learned that many of our prayers are answered through our crosses.” Jason and his wife resolved to trust God and seek the best medical care, believing that wherever they turned, the Lord would guide their steps.
As the family began praying fervently, Cindy’s daughter asked, “Mom, who should we ask for help? What saint can we call on?” Around the same time, Cindy’s sister was on pilgrimage with Father Rocky, unknowingly sending Cindy pictures from the tomb of Blessed Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus. “It hit me,” Cindy said. “Michael McGivney was the one we needed.”
They immediately began praying the Prayer for Canonization of Blessed McGivney and shared it widely among family and friends. Soon, something remarkable happened.
Her adult children, some of whom had drifted from the practice of the faith, initiated daily Rosaries over FaceTime at 3:06 each afternoon. “It looked like Hollywood Squares on the phone,” Cindy laughed. “They were leading the prayers, the ones who I didn’t even know remembered them!” What began as desperation became a family-wide revival of faith.
Even in the midst of suffering, Jason and his wife offered every ounce of their pain for others, especially those who had no one to pray for them. “I told them,” Cindy said, “‘Don’t let Satan get any of your suffering. Give it all to God.’”
Then came the first sign of hope. After just two cancer treatments, Jason’s PET scan results stunned his doctors. “It’s unprecedented,” his oncologist said. “Ninety percent of the cancer is gone.”
Cindy remembers seeing the before-and-after scans: “Before, his whole body lit up—every organ was surrounded. But this time, I could actually see his organs again. Even the cancer in his bones, the hardest to treat, was completely gone.”
While they know the journey isn’t over, Cindy says the family gives all glory to God. “We realize that any good that’s come from this, it’s His doing. We glorify Him even in the setbacks.”
For Drew Mariani, Jason’s story is a powerful testimony of faith in suffering: “God sometimes works instantly, and sometimes slowly, so that greater glory comes through the waiting. Either way, He always has the final say.”
As for Cindy, her message to others facing dark diagnoses is simple: “Never give up hope. Trust God’s mercy and love. If you’re going to leave this world, take a lot of souls with you, through faith, joy, and prayer. It’s easy to believe when life is smooth. But when it’s hard—that’s when you learn to really lean in.”