Dear Hilary, I share your sadness about Bruce.\u00a0 As the old saying goes, it\u2019s all fun and games until someone gets hurt.\u00a0 I do not, however, share your surprise.\u00a0 Yes, the ubiquitous campaigns against drunk driving have raised consciousness about its dangers, but have they gone to the heart of the matter?\u00a0 Think about it.\u00a0 Why do people get drunk?\u00a0 Why do they do drugs?\u00a0 The kids at your college have everything going for them \u2013 they are not \u201cdown-and-out\u201d tramps.\u00a0 What possible reason could they have for habitual over-indulgence, even when they are well aware of the potential consequences?\u00a0 Certainly, there could be many reasons.\u00a0 Some just enjoy it \u2013 sheer indulgence in pleasure.\u00a0 Others are trying to solidify their place among a certain group of friends.\u00a0 Still others may be aware of a deep existential void, and substance abuse (occasional or habitual) is their way of trying to fill or hide it.\u00a0 OK, so which of these causes do the \u201canti-drinking\u201d campaigns address?\u00a0 None.\u00a0 They miss the boat completely.\u00a0 Today\u2019s saint, however, gives positive alternatives for meeting each of those needs. Hilarion was born in Palestine, of non-Christian parents, who sent him to school in Alexandria, Egypt, where he heard the gospel and believed.\u00a0 He felt called to dedicate himself more fully to God, so he went into the desert to meet St Anthony, already famous for his holiness and wisdom.\u00a0 For two months he was St Anthony\u2019s disciple, but the many other disciples and visitors that Anthony had to receive wearied and distracted him, so he returned to his native southern Palestine, where he decided to give himself up to silence, prayer, work and penance.\u00a0 He only ate one meal a day, of 15 figs (later he added some bread and oil), after sunset, and when he was beset with especially strong temptations, he would cut down the number of figs and increase his prayers and work. Thus he endeavored to spend the rest of his life (he died when he was eighty).\u00a0 His love for God made his heart share in the Lord\u2019s compassion for those who suffer, and after his years of purification he was granted the gift of miracles.\u00a0 His intercession made a barren woman fertile, gave a Christian chariot racer a victory over a pagan, brought rain during droughts, healed the sick\u2026 He became a regular wonderworker.\u00a0 As his fame expanded, his solitude diminished.\u00a0 He decided to leave that place where he was so well known to find somewhere he could be alone again, but the people wouldn\u2019t let him go.\u00a0 So he went on a hunger strike to convince them \u2013 after seven days they relented.\u00a0 But wherever Hilarion went, his compassion for the suffering led him to perform miracles, so he had to continue wandering from place to place for half of his lifetime, until he died in peace in a pleasant retreat on the island of Cyprus.\u00a0 Personally, he only wanted solitude so he could pray, but God gave him fame so he could bring others to pray. Here was a man free from peer pressure, master of his tendencies to pleasure, and filled with certainty about the real meaning of life.\u00a0 What was his secret?\u00a0 He had met Christ, and he followed him.\u00a0 That\u2019s the answer, that\u2019s the only way to free ourselves from the destructive habits that breed tragedies like Bruce\u2019s: Jesus Christ. So let\u2019s ask St Hilarion to help us spread the word. Sincerely, Uncle Eddy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Hilary, I share your sadness about Bruce.\u00a0 As the old saying goes, it\u2019s all fun and games until someone gets hurt.\u00a0 I do not, however, share your surprise.\u00a0 Yes, […]<\/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-142263","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