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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Our Lady of Sorrows
Dear Dolores, I can’t tell you how deeply sorry I was to hear the news of your mother’s death. Please count on my prayers. It has been said that we can offer no greater prayer than that made of humble tears; I am sure we are both praying especially well ...
Triumph of the Holy Cross
Dear Holly, Have you found your cross yet? You can’t follow Christ until you find it. He himself pointed that out: “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23) Yes, the joy of the Resurrection always ...
St John Chrysostom
Dear Crystal, If you spent as much time finding ways to spread Christ’s truth as you do complaining about campus “political correctness” you would already have eliminated the problem. Everything you say in your notes is right on target, and extremely well put – but you don’t have to convince ...
St Guy of Anderlecht
Dear Gilbert, Don’t be so depressed. With God, even our foolish failures can become successes. He doesn’t expect us to know everything, to make the perfect decisions all the time, to avoid even the smallest blunder… Such is not our lot, my boy, and God knows it. We are just ...
St Paphnutius
Dear Pappy, The solution is simple; it’s called “the personal touch.” Our Lord used it, the Apostles used it, and if you want to be more effective in apostolic work, you better use it too. Fliers, guest speakers, activities, articles – all these things are necessary tools to defend and ...
St Pulcheria
Dear Polly, You have always been a fun-loving damsel, full of verve and good spirits, and I am glad to see that you are putting these qualities to good use (finally). God gave us each a personality, and it’s up to us to make sure that its weak points get ...
St Peter Claver
Dear Clyde, So you’re bored at Mass and you’re distracted in prayer. Welcome to the human race. If being holy were fun and easy, sinners would be saints. Get humble, accept your imperfections, and work to improve them instead of complaining about them. The only worrisome thing in your note, ...
The Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Dear Bertha, Someone has mixed you up terribly. To “keep your distance” from the Blessed Virgin because “she had no sin so she can’t understand my struggles” is a diabolical ploy. Don’t be deceived. Precisely because the Blessed Virgin was free from all sin – original and personal – she ...
St Donatian, St Laetus and companions
Dear Liddy, You shouldn’t be surprised at running into opposition from fellow Catholics. We are all sinners, and the Church has suffered from internal strife since the very beginning (wasn’t Jesus’ betrayer one of the Church’s first bishops?). Our Lord told that parable about the wheat and the weeds growing ...
St Donatian, St Laetus and companions
Dear Liddy, You shouldn’t be surprised at running into opposition from fellow Catholics. We are all sinners, and the Church has suffered from internal strife since the very beginning (wasn’t Jesus’ betrayer one of the Church’s first bishops?). Our Lord told that parable about the wheat and the weeds growing ...
St Lawrence of Justinian
Dear Lara, Never, never, never doubt the effectiveness of your prayers! Do you really think that God, who so lovingly created us and holds us in existence, who deigned to send Jesus Christ to save us by suffering and dying on the cross – do you think such a God ...
St Ultan
Dear Ulilah, Here we go again. Only a couple weeks into it and you’re already complaining about being “too busy.” What a useless complaint. Either you have taken on too many commitments (in which case you should prioritize them according to your personal goals and excise the less relevant ones), ...
