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 Albert the Great
Dear Alice, I do so hope you are able to take a break from your grueling work in the lab and get a chance to read this before midnight; today is the feast day of your patron saint, my dear niece, and you ought to do something special in his honor. Don’t be confused; I know that you are not named after Albert the Great, but do you know that he is patron of all students of the natural sciences? And since your biochemistry fetish still qualifies as a natural science, he is your patron. There you have it. I ...
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St Ambrose
Dear Amber, Has it ever occurred to you that we may be on the cusp of one of those massive historical upheavals? Lately, I have been thinking something very big is brewing. It reminds me of the end-of-the-Roman-Empire-days. No one realized it at the time, but human civilization was about ...
St Nicholas of Bari
Dear Nick, You really are a chip off the old block. First MVP and captain of your high school football team, and now MVP and captain of your college football team. Just like your dad, God bless his soul. I have always thought it more than coincidental that both you ...
St Sabas
Dear Sabine, From your latest note, it sounds to me like you’re a bit frazzled (as much as you tried to hide it). Final exams coming up, fellowship application deadlines, Advent liturgical committee planning sessions, orchestra rehearsals intensifying… no wonder you are feeling tense. And I bet that amid the ...
St John Damascene
Dear Joan, Thank you for the lovely e-card. I always knew you had true artistic talent, and every time you send me pieces of your work, my conviction is more soundly confirmed. And if I were you, I wouldn’t worry at all about your family situation; it is part of ...
St Francis Xavier
Dear Salvador, You say you have reached a “spiritual plateau.” Don’t bet on it. Just because you can’t see any progress doesn’t mean progress isn’t happening. Plants need to put down roots before they can put out flowers. Even so, you may want to do a little examination on one ...
St Viviana
Dear Vivian, I know (really, I’m not kidding) how tempting it is. And what can do to help fortify you against the temptation? I could be rational, and explain how it is merely an excess of youthful passion that has been leading you and your boyfriend down a path of ...
St Natalia of Nicomedia
Dear Nate, Remember, you can find only two kinds of people in the world: those in whom wisdom prevails, and those in whom wimpiness prevails. (You can’t really say that the world is full of two kinds of people, the wise and the wimps – that would require ignoring the ...
St Andrew
Dear Andy, Relax. All that interior turbulence you are torturing yourself with is unnecessary; it certainly doesn’t come from the Holy Spirit (so you can guess which spirit it does come from). It’s clear God is whispering in your soul, and, I agree, the objective signs seem to indicate that ...
St Radbod
Dear Rod, Frustration, as you know (since I have told you so many times), is a function of expectations. Therefore, when frustration assails you, draining your energy, stealing your peace of mind, and distracting you from what you ought to be doing, the remedy lies in reflecting on which of ...
St Joseph Pignatelli, S.J.
Dear Seth, I think “outlawed” may be an exaggeration. Ok, the campus ministry office’s budget cuts have left your group homeless. Fine. But that doesn’t mean that you have to give up doing what you’ve been doing. Are Catholics on campus any less in need of support and formation in ...
St Humilis de Bisignano
Dear Hubert, Now begins the most difficult time of year for me, and I am truly sorry that it’s looking pretty bad for you at this time. From Thanksgiving to New Year’s my guards take special delight in making things unpleasant. They deliver old Christmas cards; they hang fake turkeys ...
St John Berchmans, S.J.
Dear Bertha, I am distressed to hear that you have returned to your old, excessive ways. You are a college junior, my dear niece, not a hermit. Perhaps God is calling you to the privileged vocation of religious life, but for you to neglect your obvious duties now – which ...
