Dear Martial, I detect in your last note telltale signs that you have once again begun to read Westerns in your free time.\u00a0 You gave yourself away by using phrases like \u201cyellow-bellied coward\u201d and \u201clower than a snake\u2019s belly\u201d; whenever you resort to such vivid language I know that you have renewed your old pastime.\u00a0 Not that I deplore Westerns; both novels and movies of that sort can be entertaining, and the better ones can even be instructive.\u00a0 They often glorify great American values like ingenuity, dedication and hard work, responsibility, and justice.\u00a0 Nevertheless, even the best of them tend to suffer from a strain of exaggerated individualism, a very un-Catholic anti-value that sometimes emerges in American culture.\u00a0 The invincible gunfighter who always makes the right decision and can single-handedly save civilization from the onslaught of hoards of evil outlaws\u2026 Philosophically speaking, this is simply unchristian.\u00a0 Christ was a team player; God is a family \u2013 and he created us to need one another, to achieve our full potential only through mutual interdependence.\u00a0 Today\u2019s feast is a potent reminder of this. A week ago we celebrated Mary\u2019s Assumption into heaven.\u00a0 (At least, I hope you celebrated it; it is a holy day of obligation, you know.)\u00a0 Today we commemorate her ongoing role in the Kingdom of Christ.\u00a0 Just as King Solomon gave his mother Bathsheba special honor in the court of the earthly Jerusalem, so Jesus has made his mother queen over the heavenly Jerusalem.\u00a0 There at his side she watches over all of us younger brothers and sisters of her beloved Son, anticipating our needs and interceding for us just as she did when the hapless newlyweds at Cana (cf. John 2) ran out of wine.\u00a0 We who struggle to advance the Kingdom on earth need the supernatural encouragement and inspiration that comes from knowing that we have a home in heaven to look forward to.\u00a0 And what would a home be without a mother? So, my six-shooting nephew, don\u2019t forget that you\u2019re part of God\u2019s family, and your heroism (being quick in virtue, not quick on the draw) needs the support of the whole Church, and can in turn be a support for the whole Church.\u00a0 Christians always fight together, never alone \u2013 so stay in touch with your Mother. God bless, Uncle Eddy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Martial, I detect in your last note telltale signs that you have once again begun to read Westerns in your free time.\u00a0 You gave yourself away by using phrases […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":359,"featured_media":145992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3719],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-142204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncle-eddy"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"","pp_force_visibility":null,"pp_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_force_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_subpost_visibility":null,"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n