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 William of York
Dear Bill, I am not going to try and hide my disappointment. You know as well as I do that you can’t believe everything you hear. So for you to go and spread those unfounded, diabolical rumors about your bishop is positively noxious (I’m your uncle; I can be honest). ...
St Anthony Gianelli
Dear Tony, I was truly sorry to hear that things didn’t work out as well as you were hoping this year. But you shouldn’t let yourself be discouraged. If the Catholic Student Union shrank instead of growing, well, there could be a lot of explanations. Maybe God is just purifying ...
St Marcellin Champagnat
Dear Bobby, I share your chagrin. It is indeed shocking to see how little today’s generation knows about Jesus Christ. We used to call misbehaving students “pagan” in a metaphorical sense; now, I’m afraid (and your last note confirms it), we no longer need the metaphor. So I share your ...
St Boniface
Dear Bono, Thanks for sending me a draft of your valedictorian speech. For some reason your email was delayed, and I only got it today. I hope I’m not too late to submit a few comments. Here’s my first one: REWRITE THE WHOLE THING! Why do you hem and haw ...
St Quirinus of Croatia
Dear Linus, The successes of your junior year are impressive. No doubt I should be a proud uncle – from your perspective, at least. The fact is, I’m not. Even from this distance I can detect the slow but steady disintegration of your willpower. Comfort, ease, popularity… These subtle and ...
St Charles Lwanga and Companions
Dear Charlie, I know you love acting, but do you realize what you’re getting into? Maybe God does want you to evangelize that subculture, but maybe he wants you to put your talents to use elsewhere. It worries me to have you trying to sell yourself in audition after audition. ...
St Marcellinus and St Peter
Dear Mark, I’m glad you’re feeling so carefree and jubilant as your summer vacation begins. Of course, I hope you don’t take that feeling too seriously. It is, after all, just a feeling, and so it will pass – as soon as the fleeting euphoria of finishing final exams passes. ...
St Justin Martyr
Dear Tyrone, Well, your last note seems to indicate that you have finally learned your lesson. I won’t point out how long this abandoned and imprisoned uncle has been trying to teach it to you; I will just breathe a sigh of relief that it finally got taught: “Conversion by ...
St Ferdinand III
Dear Fernando, I am having difficulty controlling my anger after reading the articles you sent me. It is bad enough that the older politicians over there continue to show their moral vacuity, but it infuriates me to see the same kind of self-seeking shenanigans among the younger generation. It’s our ...
St Ursula Ledóchowska
Dear Sue, You have no small task ahead of you. To make your way into politics by advanced studies in government and foreign policy will put you in a seething, competitive hotbed where everyone has an ax to grind is looking for someone to grind it on. Your intelligence and ...
St Germanus of Paris
Dear Gilbert, Just because this year’s evangelizing efforts didn’t produce as many visible results as last year’s is no reason to pout. Progress from God’s point of view is often not the same as progress from our point of view. Do you trust in God? Then be objective in your ...
St Julius the Veteran
Dear Julie, Although I commend you for your creativity, you really don’t have to tangle yourself up so much to explain the faith to your unbelieving friends. Your discouragement at not being able to convince your roommate that Christianity is true is, if I may be blunt, hardly Christian. Remember, ...
