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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All Souls’ Day
Dear Sally, I detect a certain diffidence in the tone of your note, as if you disapproved of, or at least felt uncomfortable with, the traditional visit to the cemetery to pray for the dead on today’s feast, the commemoration of all the faithful departed. Is it perhaps because that ...
Solemnity of All Saints
Dear Allie, Do you remember when you were a high school freshman, and you went to the senior graduation ceremony, and all those exemplary seniors received their diploma, and many of them received special awards recognizing their achievements during the past four years? Do you remember how eagerly you longed ...
St Quintinus
Dear Quincy, Have you ever wondered why everybody likes to celebrate Halloween so much? I’m not talking about the origins of the holiday – there are as many legends about that as there are languages to tell them in. Rather, I am curious as to why so many people like ...
St Marcellus the Centurion
Dear Marcela, I am sad to hear that you are having such a difficult time with your ROTC commitment, but I bet I know the real reason why: it interferes with some of the “normal” activities that your friends have time for, and, well, as they say, the “grass is ...
St Narcissus
Dear Cassie, That is an interesting question you ask. And I am glad that at least one of my nieces is spiritually sensitive enough to ask it. The answer is simple: if you are wondering how your spiritual life is going, do what you do when you wonder how your ...
St Simon and St Jude (Thaddeus)
Dear Judy, I only have time for a brief note – it looks like they will be changing my cubicle today and I’ll have to sit in chains for a while while they do it, so I want to get this off quickly. Above all, my beloved niece, I wish ...
St Frumentius
Dear Frummel, How nice to hear that you aced your midterms. Of course, don’t think I’m blind. I know very well that you barely studied at all – just enough, in fact, to do better than everyone else. But, as I have told you hundreds of times, God doesn’t need ...
St Lucian and St Marcian
Dear Lucy, I share your deep sadness at the spread of this unchristian spiritualism. I am sorry that you are being forced to live so close to it, having a witch as a roommate and pagans and Wiccans coming in and out all the time. But do you not think ...
St Crispin and Crispinian
Dear Chris, Thanks for sending me the rather amusing photo of you and your roommates. Nice to see your smiles and camaraderie. I happened to notice that you were quite unshaven, your hair was unkempt, and your clothes appeared not to have been washed in too long. As your conscientious ...
St Anthony Claret
Dear Ann, May I guess what the most common topic of conversation has been for you and your friends during the first two months of school? Is it, perhaps, guys? I imagine it is, and I imagine that it has not only been the preferred topic of your conversations, but ...
St John of Capistrano
Dear Jean, Ever since you arrived at college your notes have narrated all the wonderful experiences you have been having. Unfortunately, all of those experiences are parties, dates, weekend road trips, and other social engagements. Not once have you mentioned a single class, a professor, a lecture – and you ...
St Nunilo and St Alodia
Dear Lu, I got a note from your other uncle today. He just received the “CEO of the Decade” award. He wrote me while he was in a total crisis. And odd crisis, it was. He mentioned the award, and how after he received it he went home, put the ...
