Thursday, May 7, 2015

A Letter from the Archbishop

Pull up a chair, grab a cup of coffee, it's story time....

A few years ago, Maggie's godfather, Fr. Dave, let me know that a new Archbishop had been named in Ireland by Pope Benedict.  He was a "good one" and his name was Eamon Martin.  My mind was blown!  He shared the same name as my little meatball!  

Current Archbishop Eamon Martin

I told my Eamon that there was a great Archbishop in Ireland with his name, and he was super excited.   You see, Eamon wants to be a priest, and it's not just something he mentioned once when he was younger, it's something he talks about all the time.  Daily conversations include "When I'm a priest, can I still live near you?" "I'm lucky, because I want to be a priest, and priests don't have to kiss girls." and "Can I be a priest and a chef at the same time?"  Yup, yup and yup!  Now, I know he's still only eight years old, and we shall see if God does indeed call him to priesthood, but he does have this inexplicable joy and holiness about him and I wouldn't be surprised if it happened.  But no pressure!!  Our kids will only be happy if they follow God's calling, not their parent's hopes and dreams!

Future Archbishop Eamon Martin?

So when I mentioned Archbishop Eamon Martin to my Eamon, he immediately said that he wanted to be a Bishop so there would be TWO bishops with the same name...one in Ireland and one in America.  From time to time, he would mention his idol and we would share in his happiness at the coolness of it all.

Twins!

A few weeks ago, my mom asked me what Eamon would like for his First Communion, and the thought popped in my head (Holy Spirit) to tell her about Archbishop Eamon Martin.  We wondered if perhaps we could get him to write a little email to Eamon for his special day.  My mom researched and found out how to email the Archbishop and told him about his accidental namesake in America who wanted to be a priest.  She also discovered that Archbishop Martin's parents were from the same county in Ireland that my Dad was from!  It's a small world, after all.

Archbishop Eamon Martin with his mom, who had 12 children!
So she waited to hear back, but no email response.  She prayed to Our Lady, saying it was in her hands if she wanted to make anything happen (Archbishop Martin was ordained on Our Lady's birthday).  But Eamon's First Communion day came and went, and we never heard back, and we certainly didn't tell him that his Gammy had reached out to his idol because we didn't want him to be disappointed.

But then...

...then...

...yesterday, my mom received a letter in the mail from Archbishop Eamon Martin!!!  He had sent a letter to Eamon saying that he would be praying for him on his First Holy Communion day and sent him a prayer card that he had signed.  



Eamon was thrilled!!  He hasn't stopped talking about it since!  I think I'll frame the letter and prayer card just in case his childhood dream comes true and he becomes Archbishop Eamon Martin II  :)



16 comments:

  1. So cool!! My 7 year old keeps telling me he wants to be a Bishop!

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  2. How beautiful!! It made me cry a little - I'm not gonna lie... Prayers for both Eamons!

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  3. AnonymousMay 07, 2015

    This is so awesome! What a special blessing. He is just glowing in the last picture.

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  4. That is amazing! Thanks for sharing this. That Eamon is precious!

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  5. Ah, that is SO cool!! How special! Congratulations Eamon!

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  6. That is so wonderful! What a treasure for your boy!

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  7. How cool is this?? What a nice thing for him to do for Eamon!

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  8. I love this! How special for Eamon!

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  9. That is AWESOME! Congratulations to Eamon :) He must be ecstatic!

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  10. Wow, that's really cool! :)
    Me and my husband have also birthday on Sept. 26, if you need another letter idea or something :D

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  11. Ah-mazing! Very cool and what a great idea for Mr. Eamon. I can only imagine how awesome that was for him to read the letter from his idol. Great score Grammy and Mom! Definitely frame them as a great keepsake. You (and the Holy Spirit) come up with some great ideas :)

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  12. How cool! What a treasure.

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  13. I love this! How wonderful. Colleen -- you so often inspire me and I rarely comment. My kids range in age from 18 to 5 and I think the jade-ed-ness of teens sometimes rubs off on me. This post in particular reminded me that we don't yet know who our children will be and maybe instead of being so pragmatic I should be spending more time praying that the close connection they once had with their faith can one day bring them close again. Thanks for being my inspiration!

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