SAINT OF THE DAY
WITH UNCLE EDDY
Navigating today’s world is tough and all of us could use a nudge in the right direction. Figuring out the right path to take at work, college, or in social situations is not always easy. Looking to the lives of the saints can give us the insights we need.
Written by Fr. John Bartunek, LC, Uncle Eddy’s Saint of the Day is a fictional series of letters written by a man who has been imprisoned for the Catholic Faith. Using the saints of the day as examples, Uncle Eddy pens a daily letter with spiritual advice to his many nieces and nephews.
St Laurence O’Toole
Dear Larry, Do I detect an air of surprise in your last note? But why are you surprised? Are you the first to be spoken badly of by the very people you are trying to help? Hardly. If they are trying to brand you “arch conservative” and “homophobic” and “misogynist” and “hypocritical” simply because you are doing what you can to get the Church’s teaching aired in that relativism-infested atmosphere on campus, that’s par for the course. “Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and speak all kinds of evil against you on my account…” (Matthew 5:11), ...
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St Pambo
Dear Pam, Did you ever notice how cheap words are these days? So many words. An endless flow of words. Words, words, words… Millions of books, billboards, radio programs, television shows (hundreds of channels!), magazines by the thousand, newspapers with more text in one daily edition than many ancient peoples ...
St Speratus
Dear Perry, If you had lived under the persecutions of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, you would have had to pay for publicly acknowledging yourself as a Christian in the same way that today’s saints did: they got their heads cut off for it. Silence would have saved their ...
Our Lady of Mt Carmel
Dear Candy, My prayers for you are especially heartfelt today, the day on which the Church honors the religious Order of Our Lady of Mt Carmel. The Order was founded in Palestine (that’s where Mt Carmel is – the same mountain where the prophet Elijah took refuge back in the ...
St Bonaventure
Dear Bonnie, I am glad you decided to major in history. The ancients used to call history “magistra vitae” – the teacher of life. Indeed, an attentive study of past human endeavors can create a wonderfully mature and supple mind. Nevertheless, I feel it is my duty to warn you ...
St Camillus de Lellis
Dear Cammie, If I knew you less than I do, I would think it quaint that you have taken a summer job as a hospitality manager in one of those Las Vegas hotels. Since I know you well, however, I am obliged to throw you a life preserver. I have ...
St Henry II
Dear Hank, Your sense of relief is somewhat disturbing. I commend you for your generosity in giving God and the Church the first chance, but now that two years of seminary have made it clear to the rector that God is not calling you to the religious life or the ...
St Veronica
Dear Nicky, Thank you for trying so hard to send me that beef jerky (funny how you remembered my immense like for that low-regarded delicacy). Unfortunately, the guards gleefully waved it over the edge of my cubicle and then fed it to a rather unimpressive canine companion that they enjoy ...
St Benedict
Dear Benny, My young nephew, you are a foolish man. Go ahead, get mad if you like, get indignant, get outraged even, it doesn’t change the foolishness of your decision to join that “little club” that you tried to downplay in your last note. I am quite familiar with that ...
St Anthony and Theodosius Pechersky
Dear Anne, Glad to hear that the band is doing well. Must be exciting to travel from town to town and play to live audiences instead of to the rakes hanging in the garage. I hope things continue to go well. You always did love music. You used to spend ...
St Nicholas Pieck
Dear Nick, If you ever send me another note so full of thoughtless personal criticisms (of anyone at all, let alone priests and bishops!), I will personally provide my captors with all the contact information they need to apprehend you and send you to a fate even worse than my ...
St Withburga
Dear Wilma, I just received a frantic note from your mother (my dear, nervous sister), who is afraid that you are playing a dangerous game with your naturally attractive personality and looks by spending so much of your free time at the beach and dressing as if you were in ...
St Pantaenus
Dear Patty, So you’re trying to squeeze in more units by taking classes during the summer session, are you? Knowing your grades from the last two years, I can say with confidence that you have not chosen this uncommon vernal occupation due to previous academic failures. Therefore, I surmise that ...
