Dear Frank, Beware of success, my talented young nephew.\u00a0 You have been given so many talents and opportunities, and you have been so diligent in taking advantage of them, and you are already beginning to taste their sweet fruit\u2026 Nothing wrong with that, mind you \u2013 but it will bring temptations in tow.\u00a0 You (and all of us, really) ought to think every once in a while (or more often, perhaps) about the figure of Judas.\u00a0 For years he lived and worked at the very side of Jesus.\u00a0 He was a natural leader, with a privileged education, in charge of the practical affairs of the band of Christ\u2019s Apostles.\u00a0 And yet, he betrayed the Lord.\u00a0 Some say it was because of greed, others because of pride, but whatever the reasons, the fact remains: Judas was chosen to be Christ\u2019s follower, and he betrayed the Lord.\u00a0 You too have been chosen to be Christ\u2019s follower, and there is a potential Judas lurking inside you. On that note, today\u2019s saint offers a fruitful contemplation.\u00a0 Francis Borgia was a Spanish nobleman of remarkably high rank: grandson of a king (and a Pope \u2013 don\u2019t be scandalized; not every Pope was a saint) and cousin to the Emperor Charles V.\u00a0 He married well, had eight children, and bounced around royal society taking various positions (viceroy, duke, protector, etc.) for the first half of his life.\u00a0 When his wife died (their youngest child was eight) it was a heavy blow to him; it sorely tested his faith.\u00a0 But he came through even more determined to continue serving God and neighbor with vigor and intelligence.\u00a0 St Ignatius had recently founded the Jesuits, and Francis was deeply attracted by their zeal and their particular mission of combining the contemplative life and the active life.\u00a0 He made a secret, private vow to enter the order, and St Ignatius himself advised him to set all his affairs in order (especially providing for his children) before making the news public.\u00a0 He did so, and eventually his desire was granted.\u00a0 When he was forty years old, he went to Rome and entered the Society of Jesus.\u00a0 The \u201cduke turned Jesuit,\u201d as he was called, learned humility and prayer through the rigors of religious life, where his superiors made sure that he spent plenty of time washing dishes and cleaning floors, to purify him from any left-over arrogance or pride, but throughout the years preceding his ordination he demonstrated exemplary virtue.\u00a0 Once he was ordained, he began preaching extensively, and was put in charge of all the Jesuits in Portugal in Spain.\u00a0 Soon thereafter he was called back to Rome, where he became the most popular preacher to the Pope and Cardinals, and was named General of the Jesuit Order.\u00a0 He put his vast experience of government and diplomacy (and his many personal connections with European nobility) to work and gave much needed structure and stability to the flourishing order, such that he is often referred to as the \u201csecond founder\u201d of the Jesuits.\u00a0 His seven years of brilliant and energetic leadership included starting Jesuit missions to the Americas, establishing the Roman College (now known as the Gregorian University), building churches and seminaries, and numorous other endeavors.\u00a0 By the time he died, he was already acclaimed as a saint from one end of Europe to the other. What was the secret of this paean of Christian virtue?\u00a0 The more renown and attention he received, the more self-effacing he became.\u00a0 When one of his companions asked him why, he remarked that for six years he had meditated on the life of Christ, and in those meditations he always put himself at the feet of Judas.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because St Francis Borgia recognized the potential Judas in himself, and that kept him humble. As you continue to climb the ladder of success, may God grant you the same grace. Prayerfully yours, Uncle Eddy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Frank, Beware of success, my talented young nephew.\u00a0 You have been given so many talents and opportunities, and you have been so diligent in taking advantage of them, and […]<\/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-142252","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