Dear Valerie,<\/p>\n
Well now, congratulations on a VERY successful sophomore year.\u00a0 I can only hope and pray that your remaining years will be as fruitful.\u00a0 I have to admit, though, that I am not so much impressed by your academic and musical successes \u2013 I think you could achieve those in your sleep (you have a lot of natural talent there).\u00a0 On the other hand, the progress you have made in the Catholic Student Center is truly remarkable.\u00a0 God has blessed your faith and perseverance.\u00a0 Now, however, I have to issue a warning (that\u2019s one of the things uncles are good for).<\/p>\n
No authentic Christian endeavor is free from difficulties and obstacles.\u00a0 You didn\u2019t have too many this year, and maybe you won\u2019t have to face them next year, but if you continue to follow in the footsteps of our Lord and his Apostles, sooner or later he will award you with the blessings of persecution, of some kind or another.\u00a0 So, without being morbid, you should at least prepare yourself sufficiently so that you aren\u2019t surprised.\u00a0 Contemplating the example of today\u2019s saints may help.<\/p>\n
Valerius and Rufinus were business partners in Soissons (northern France).\u00a0 They worked for the Imperial government, collecting and accounting the taxes for their area.\u00a0 They were Christians (this is the third century, so the Empire is still mostly pagan, and plagued by intermittent persecutions of Christians \u2013 it was officially illegal to be a Christian by this time), as they evidenced most convincingly by their personal piety and spiritual discipline (especially fasting), as well as their fairness and generosity (they were well known almsgivers).<\/p>\n
In the unending ebb and flow of Imperial politics, one Emperor by the name of Maximian Herculius had to wage war against some Gaulish (i.e. French) rebels called the Bagaudes.\u00a0 Having subdued them, the Emperor left Rictius Varus in charge of the Province, ordering him (among other things) to eliminate Christianity.\u00a0 Thus began one of the many waves of violent persecution.<\/p>\n
When the wave reached Soissons, Valerius and Rufinus took refuge in the woods, but somehow they were discovered, condemned, and beheaded, right there on the road into the city.\u00a0 Their happy and prosperous lives came to a glorious but painful conclusion.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know if our Lord will be calling you to spill your blood for love of him, but he will definitely allow some sort of opposition to plague your Christian efforts \u2013 it\u2019s the only way to purify your heart even more and lead you to the heights of holiness, which coincide with the heights of happiness.\u00a0 It\u2019s nothing to get alarmed or upset about, but I don\u2019t want you to be na\u00efve either.\u00a0 Don\u2019t let yourself be caught by surprise.\u00a0 If you do, the devil may spring his favorite trap on you: discouragement, the first step to infidelity.\u00a0 Don\u2019t say I didn\u2019t warn you.<\/p>\n
Your loving uncle,<\/p>\n
Eddy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Valerie, Well now, congratulations on a VERY successful sophomore year.\u00a0 I can only hope and pray that your remaining years will be as fruitful.\u00a0 I have to admit, though, […]<\/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-142494","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