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 Godeleva of Ghistelles
Dear Stella, Now you can see how your patience and virtue have been rewarded! You built up a true friendship with Bill, based on common values and constructed through engaging in worthwhile activities together. You delayed the romance until the friendship was strong, and your dating was directed towards courtship, ...
St John of Sahagun
Dear Jane, Your last note distressed me. Not because of the degenerate moral climate at your university, which you described so vividly, but because of your reaction to it. Before you decide to transfer, I would encourage you to reflect deeply and pray a lot (I hope your three summer ...
St Barnabas
Dear Barney, I hope this note finds you. I don’t know if you will have email there in the summer missions. I must say I was edified when my sister informed me that you had decided to spend your summer catechizing the Indians in Peru instead of interning at Brinks ...
St Getulius and Companions
Dear Julie, Though I disapprove of your dating those undisciplined jock-types (actually, you shouldn’t be “dating” at all, if you mean by “dating” that weird kind of exclusive collegiate relationship where you pretend for a semester or two to be married, without ever thinking seriously about what sincere commitment to ...
St Columba
Dear Colin, If God has given you a quick temper, it must be for a reason, so I’ll not stand for your whining. Some horses are good for slow and steady work, which is necessary for prosperity. Other horses would go insane behind a plough; these are made for swift ...
St Médard
Dear Maude, Is it raining there? I haven’t seen the sky for I don’t know how long (because I can’t see the sky I never know if it is night or day, so I lost count of how long I have been cooped up in this cubicle – 3 years ...
St Willibald
Dear Willy, So working a 6am–6pm construction job this summer isn’t relieving the symptoms of your sophomore slump, eh? Never fear – there is no need to wait until the start of junior year for full recovery: I have the solution. In fact, I have the solution not only for ...
St Norbert
Dear Bertha, Well, what do you have to say for yourself after your first year at college? Are you better for it, or worse? Is the college better for it, or worse? Is the world better for it, or worse? Odd questions? I think not. Now is the prime time ...
St Boniface
Dear Bonnie, You have always been popular, just like today’s saint. In fact, when he resolved to leave behind his beloved English monastery and set out to convert the pagans in northern Europe (today’s Germany), his followers elected him abbot in order to convince him to stay. But he knew ...
St Francis Caracciolo
Dear Frank, Fight on, my bold young nephew, fight on! Your cause is just and the Kingdom needs your victory, but it also needs your integrity. Forgive me for being so candid, but a man in my position (I haven’t seen natural light for ages – my very skin is ...
St Charles Lwanga and Companions
Dear Chuck, Perspective. What you need is a bit of perspective. If your friends ridicule you for your commitment to Christian chastity, and if your own battle to be faithful to the Church’s teachings in this area is at times hard and demanding, don’t let yourself be discouraged. God created ...
St Pothinus and Companions
Dear Patty, Nothing pains me more than hearing about the plague of gossip and backbiting that’s so widespread among your peers. Our tongues were made for building up, not for breaking down! St James put it best: “Consider how small a fire can set a huge forest ablaze. The tongue ...
