Smorgasbord #39
Louis & Zélie, running out of wine, legacy
Hello friends! This is Smorgasbord, a self-service buffet of ideas—the bento box of newsletters.
This week, I forgot that I had a “no soliciting” next to the doorbell and got caught up in a sales pitch for pest control services. This college kid would not take no for an answer. He was even willing to go lower than what I had been quoted by a different company run by a fellow parishioner. When I said I would stick with my current pest control provider, he continued talking for a few more minutes until we said no a few more times. I understand he wanted to close the deal, but pushy salespeople are off-putting. If I want to buy something, I research, analyze different options, read reviews, and then decide. This could all have been avoided had I remembered the “no soliciting” sign.
Alright, let’s get on with it.
Louis & Zélie
Louis Martin, a watchmaker by trade, tried to enter religious life at 22 but was rejected from the order he was trying to get into because he didn’t know Latin. Zélie Guérin, a lacemaker, also tried to enter religious life but was dissuaded. Both were frustrated by these events and decided to find fulfillment in professional, charitable, and social activities. Little did they know God had other plans for them.
They got married in 1858. Louis was 35, and Zélie was 27. Their feast day, July 12th, is the eve of their wedding anniversary. The civil ceremony took place at 10:00 PM on July 12th, and the religious ceremony happened at midnight, with close family and friends in attendance. They did this to make it a quieter, more prayerful affair.
Together, they had nine children; four of them died in infancy. Zélie died of breast cancer in 1877, and Louis suffered two paralyzing strokes followed by cerebral arteriosclerosis in 1889 and spent three years hospitalized until he was able to return to Lisieux in 1892. Two of his daughters cared for him until his death in July 1894.
Their five surviving daughters all entered religious life, and Therese, their youngest, eventually became St. Therese of Liseux and was declared a doctor of the Church.
The Martins have been good intercessors for Diana and me. We have our own Therese, and she seems to have the same personality St. Therese had as a child. Therefore, I pray for their intercession so we know how to deal with our little flower. They’re excellent examples of a Holy Marriage and a Domestic Church.
This icon is one of my favorites. I look at it almost every day when I sit on my favorite spot on the couch, and I’ve glanced at it a few times while writing these lines. Sometimes, when Lucia (my Therese) is having a meltdown, I feel like I’m channeling my inner Louis. His example has significantly shaped my fatherhood.
I know Lucia loves me very much; she tells me so every day, and this fills my heart. My hope for when she’s older is that she may say something similar to what Therese says about her father in this letter from December 1888.
Oh, how I must love a Father who has given me such great happiness, and how I do love Him! If the guide from Rome were here, he could say: “My Reverend Fathers, I’m going to show you a Father as you’ve never seen before, there’s enough to make you fall down in amazement.” Isn’t it true, my dear little Father, that you couldn’t do more for your little Queen? If she doesn’t become a Saint it will be her fault, because with a Father like you she has the means to do so…
Running out of wine
The gospel reading at our wedding was John 2:1-12, the wedding at Cana. Mary tells Jesus the bride and groom have no wine, which would have embarrassed the couple. Jesus, a good Jewish son, listens to his mother and performs his first public miracle by turning water into wine, not just any wine but the best one.
Our friend got Diana and me into saying a concise prayer that encompasses a shout for help to God: “I’m running out of wine!” At first, I thought of it as a funny way to remember Mary’s intercession for the bride and groom. Still, upon further meditation, everyone can employ this clever and helpful prayer.
I like to imagine that the stone water jars that held twenty or thirty gallons weren’t necessarily the cleanest since they were used for the rite of purification before the wedding. In a way, Jesus can take our dirty water and turn it into the choicest of wines.
Try it the next time you feel overwhelmed; tell Jesus you’re running out of wine, and offer whatever water you have, no matter its state. Let him turn your offering into something exceptional.
Legacy
Last Saturday, Diana and I went to see Hamilton at the ASU Gammage. The North American Tour cast did an excellent job, especially since many people are familiar with the original cast recording and performance available on Disney+.
As a relatively new American citizen, I think it's valuable to have something as entertaining as Hamilton to get people hooked on a country’s history, even though Lin Manuel Miranda took some poetic liberties. I listened to the audiobook version of George Washington’s biography by Ron Chernow, and I had some background information on what was happening then.
One line from the song “Burn” got me thinking. In this number, Eliza, Hamilton’s wife, is mourning Hamilton’s infidelity, which he published in The Reynold’s Pamphlet (the first sexual scandal in the United States political history). Eliza sings: “You and your words, obsessed with your legacy...” In this case, Hamilton was okay with being perceived as an adulterer than misusing funds as treasury secretary.
I’m no politician, and I don’t necessarily think about the legacy I will leave behind that often. But for our funding fathers, this was a big deal. They started a nation, after all. I believe the best legacy I can leave is my children. Even though the words I’ve written in this humble newsletter will probably live on the internet for some years, I don’t necessarily think of this as a legacy.
I’m okay with a quiet entrance and departure from this world, provided I do God’s will. If I do that, I think that’s all the legacy I need to leave.
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Sobremesa
Is trying to sell pest control services soliciting?
When was the last time you sent a handwritten letter?
Do you think it’s important to leave a legacy?
1- If someone shows up at your door trying to move money from your pocket into their pocket they are solicitors or robbers. I note that you don't have a sign that says "no robbers", so I can only assume this visitor was a robber.
2- I sent notes to my niblings in may, but I have very romantic notions about handwritten letters and want to do more.
3- No. I think western culture is very obsessed with what people think and do after we die. People's Last Will can be and frequently are weaponized to try and control people from beyond the grave. My goal is to do my best, and teach future generations to do their best, and hopefully I help give them some resources to do their best, but ultimately it's not important that they remember me in any way as long as "their best" aims at heaven. We'll catch up on how things went up there, God willing.
“I’m running out of wine!” A perfect prayer!