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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The Queenship of Mary
Dear Martial, I detect in your last note telltale signs that you have once again begun to read Westerns in your free time. You gave yourself away by using phrases like “yellow-bellied coward” and “lower than a snake’s belly”; whenever you resort to such vivid language I know that you ...
St Pius X
Dear Pia, Starting college is like starting a new volume in your autobiography. Right now it is full of crisp, blank pages. Each day you will write something on those pages by the decisions you make and the habits you form. At the end you will have four years’ worth ...
St Berno
Dear Bernie, Your ambition to change the world for the better is commendable. Indeed, I would expect nothing less from someone who has received so much (“much will be expected from him who has received much,” our Lord said). I have a little bone to pick with your method, however. ...
St Bernard
Dear Ernie, I empathize with your eagerness to enter the seminary sooner rather than later; now that God has made clear his call, delay is necessarily a cross. But your reasons for finishing off college seem prudent, both naturally and supernaturally, and your spiritual director confirms them. So you can ...
St John Eudes
Dear Johnny, What a boon for my soul to read of your earnest desire to make this coming school year into a milestone of spiritual growth! I have always been of the opinion that we normally get what we really want, and most of us don’t get seriously holy because ...
St Helen
Dear Helene, I detect a bit of remorse in your last note, as if you regret your coming back to the Church at such a late date. I will admit that had you been taking Christ seriously since the beginning of your college career, you (and everyone around you) would ...
St Liberatus and Companions
Dear Libby, You always were a forward thinking girl – I will be glad to take a look at your résumé (I have plenty of free time), though I advise you to take my comments with a grain of salt, since I’m no career placement expert… By the way, I ...
St. Stephen of Hungary
Dear Stephanie, I am eagerly waiting to hear how things went during your summer missionary trip. I do so wish I could have gone with you; there is nothing I long for more than to spread the truths of Christ to souls who have never heard them. I imagine that ...
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Dear Maria, Maybe you could start a new organization called “over-achievers anonymous”; you could be the founder, president, and CEO. Your intense preoccupation with “success” (and with making sure that everyone knows you have succeeded) would easily qualify you for it. A lot of your unhealthy anxiety (“stress” I think ...
St Eusebius of Rome
Dear Beasley, I hope you’re ready for your senior year; it’s bound to be a roller coaster ride. Would you mind if I gave you a bit of avuncular advice? Learn to be invisible. Seriously. Invisibility will be your best ally this year. You have a bunch of high profile ...
St Cassian of Imola
Dear Cassie, To be completely honest, I am glad you have decided to go through with graduate school. I have confidence that you will come to honor the noble profession of teaching by spreading a sincere love for truth among all your students. Teaching is an inherently honorable profession, though ...
St Euplus
Dear Polly, Glad to hear that you’ll be able to squeeze in a couple of weeks of vacation before going back to school. You need it, after holding down two full time jobs for the whole summer; what a pity college costs money… I just wanted to remind you to ...
