Dear Beata,<\/p>\n
Well, it\u2019s been quite a year.\u00a0 I can\u2019t say that I\u2019m glad you had to struggle so much, but I can say that I am glad you struggled so courageously.\u00a0 You never let anything take precedence over Christ.\u00a0 Your many hidden victories in the spiritual battle will bear plenty of fruit, both in your own soul and for the extension of God\u2019s Kingdom.<\/p>\n
I hope you don\u2019t let down your guard now that freshman year is over, though.\u00a0 As you head back to your summer job, you may find it hard to resist some of the old temptations.\u00a0 I wish you could find some other place to work \u2013 the beach is fun, but it\u2019s also, well\u2026 you know.\u00a0 In any case, the key to a successful summer will be the same as the key to your successful first year of college: staying faithful to your prayer commitments.\u00a0 Today\u2019s saint can help you.<\/p>\n
Beatus is one of those mysterious figures that we don\u2019t really know too much about.\u00a0 It seems he was English.\u00a0 And history says that he was baptized by St Barnabas, who, some sources say, made his way to Great Britain in the first century.\u00a0 Beatus then took a trip to Rome, where he was ordained to the priesthood by St Peter himself.\u00a0 Then he either received a mission from the Prince of the Apostles, or he simply decided for himself, to go over the Alps and bring the Good News into Switzerland.<\/p>\n
It was no easy task.\u00a0 And we don\u2019t know exactly how he went about doing it.\u00a0 What we do know is that he took the spiritual life seriously, and spent many days and nights in prayer and meditation in a cave near Lake Thun, on Mount Beatenberg (guess where that mountain got its name).\u00a0 Local tradition maintains that he did battle with a dragon in that cave, and emerged victorious.<\/p>\n
Whether the dragon was physical (which I personally think is a real possibility \u2013 dragons are so ubiquitous in ancient legends that I like to think they really did exist) or merely a reference to the devil is up for discussion.\u00a0 But the victory is a fact.\u00a0 And he won it because he kept his prayer life in shape.<\/p>\n
You probably won\u2019t have as much time for prayer as Beatus did, but what you lack in quantity you can easily make up in quality\u2026 If you want to, that is.\u00a0 And I hope you do, because although the beach is beautiful, only Christ can satisfy the yearnings of your heart.<\/p>\n
Your loving uncle,<\/p>\n
Eddy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Beata, Well, it\u2019s been quite a year.\u00a0 I can\u2019t say that I\u2019m glad you had to struggle so much, but I can say that I am glad you struggled […]<\/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":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","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-142459","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