A Life Well Lived
Posted by Rebecca Teti in News on Friday, September 19, 2008 2:00 PM
Socrates held we could hold no man to be happy until we saw the totality of his life.
On that count, let me introduce you to a happy man from my neck of the woods: Thomas Vander Woude.
Perhaps you have read at another blog or in this wonderful story in the Washington Post about this Catholic father’s death while saving his youngest son.
But you may not know his lifetime record of deeds like these:
Mary Heisler said that when she and her family of 14 moved from Texas to Virginia, her father did not have enough money to purchase a house right away. Vander Woude took the family — of 14 — into his home for a month and then lent them money for a down payment on a home in nearby Manassas. Peter Scheetz, assistant director at the school where the Vander Woude boys attended, added that when he and his wife were married, they did not have any credit to get a mortgage to buy a town house. Vander Woude co-signed a loan for them.
Read this, I promise you’ll feel uplifted.
The Pope often says the saints are the greatest argument for the truth of Christianity. I don’t want to pre-canonize Thomas Vander Woude (although in the metropolitan Washington area, we know how we feel about him) and cheat him of the intercessory prayer he deserves. But I do wonder what argument an atheist can give to such a life? Evils and evil men are never news—but where else and what else can inspire such radiant goodness?
Say a little prayer for the soul of Thomas Vander Woude, won’t you? And bless God for raising up such a man.
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