St Waldetrudis

Dear Willie,

There is no rule that says every family has to have a “black sheep.”  Just because your sister is a nun, your brother is studying for the priesthood, and your dad is the most popular deacon in the diocese doesn’t mean that you have to be mediocre.  Of course, your path in life will be unique (everyone’s is, even if they appear identical from the outside), because your mission in life is unique. But if you keep hiding in the shadow of your saintly siblings, you won’t even get on the path to begin with.  Consider St Waldetrudis’s family. They were from Mons, Belgium (you know, not too far from the English Channel – on the continental side, of course). Her parents were St Walbert and St Bertilia, her sister was St Aldegundis, her husband was St Vincent Madelgar, and her four children were Sts. Landericus, Dentelinus, Aldertrudis, and Madelberta.  (Great names, eh?) So don’t get any wrong ideas, OK? Families are meant to be schools of love; they have long been called “domestic churches.” Yours is a good one (although why your folks let you attend that pagan institution of “higher learning” I’ll never understand) and you can make it better. Remember, don’t envy the good in others, emulate it.  And if God calls you to have a family of your own, make sure they all become saints too. Only saints have real fun… I’ve got to go. They’re coming for another interrogation session – as if I had anything to tell them! Count on prayers. Uncle Eddy.