Dear Polly,<\/p>\n
Some things, my bright young niece, are more important than promotions.\u00a0 Don\u2019t get me wrong, I am glad you have been offered such a wonderful job right out of college.\u00a0 You certainly deserve it, and that company probably doesn\u2019t realize what a jewel they are getting.\u00a0 But as your devoted uncle, I need to give you a warning.\u00a0 They will try to take advantage of you.\u00a0 They are less interested in you than in what you can do for them.\u00a0 So they will use all kinds of perks and promises of promotion to motivate you to work 80 and 90 hour weeks, throwing your life and your soul out of balance.\u00a0 Be careful.\u00a0 Keep Christ in the center.\u00a0 Remember that your friendship with him is priceless \u2013 no promotion will ever even compare.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a lesson that today\u2019s saint learned well.\u00a0 As a child, John was miraculously saved from a mortal disease by the prayers of his parents. In thanksgiving, they consecrated him to God.\u00a0 He easily found his vocation to the priesthood, and dedicated himself to it with such fervor and sincerity that his preaching literally converted thousands of sinners.<\/p>\n
His holiness led to popularity especially among the poor.\u00a0 He was made Vicar General of the diocese of Prague, the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia at the time.\u00a0 His position was a platform for an active and remarkably fruitful apostolate, though his naturally retiring personality led him to decline more than a few offers of bishoprics.\u00a0 Among his many duties was that of interceding for the destitute in the court of King Wenceslaus.\u00a0 Though the King was hardly a model Christian, the Queen, Sophie, was devout.\u00a0 St John was her confessor.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s how the trouble started.\u00a0 Wenceslaus was a suspicious fellow, in addition to being sensual, temperamental, and self-indulgent.\u00a0 He was also a control-freak, and at one point demanded that St John reveal to him what his wife had said in confession.\u00a0 The faithful priest refused to break the sacred seal of the sacrament.\u00a0 The King retaliated by putting him in prison.\u00a0 The situation was aggravated by John\u2019s astute defense of the Church\u2019s honor and well-being against other of the King\u2019s selfish ploys.\u00a0 In the end, his refusal to bow to Wenceslaus\u2019s desires earned him torture and a painful, martyr\u2019s death by drowning in Prague\u2019s Moldau river.<\/p>\n
St John had every chance in the world to climb the social ladder, but he was more interested in Christ\u2019s Kingdom than in Wenceslaus\u2019s petty pleasures and politicking.\u00a0 You too may have to suffer a bit if you stay true to the Lord, but in the end, as you already know, fidelity to Him will make you much happier than a penthouse and a Porsche.<\/p>\n
Your loving uncle,<\/p>\n
Eddy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Polly, Some things, my bright young niece, are more important than promotions.\u00a0 Don\u2019t get me wrong, I am glad you have been offered such a wonderful job right out […]<\/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-142468","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