It had to be 12 years since I’ve seen Fr. Med or heard one of his lively outspoken homilies at evening Mass at St. Joan of Arc Church. And now I’m looking at an email saying he wanted to talk to me about something important. Hmmm.
We agreed to meet at my heavenly oceanfront condo in Boca and I couldn’t help wondering what it was all about.
I had switched parishes a while ago from St. Joan to St. Lucy, around the time I had to go for my cataract surgery. St. Lucy is the patron saint of eyes.
Some versions of her story say her eyes were removed, either by herself or by her persecutors. She became the patron saint of the blind and is invoked against hemorrhages, dysentery, diseases of the eye, and throat infections. I don’t get the throat infections, but for preserving my eyesight I prayed to her. And hallelujah, she and my eye surgeon gave me back my 20/20 vision.
So the doorman calls and says Fr. Med (his full Polish name is Medard Laz) is on his way up. That’s natural, I thought. A Catholic Priest for over 50 years, he’s forever aiming upward, although lately some of his brother priests are getting a bad rap amid the sexual abuse charges abounding almost daily while their boss, the so-called “Great Reformer” Pope, is showing he’s not much of a crisis manager.
I wish our Pope would email me as that’s one of the things I’m good at—putting out fires, dealing straightforward with issues, convincing constituents and the media that measures have been taken to ensure they won’t happen again. And that children will be henceforth as safe with priests as they are with school crossing guards.
Oh well.
Fr. Med walks in smiling, beaming with energy he’s always had and shakes hands heartily with my wife Angela and me. And he starts right in to tell us excitedly about his latest project another book he’s written, hopefully soon to be published, called “The Gathering.”
His latest creation, THE GATHERING, concerns one of the thorniest issues of the decades—abortion.
In this book Fr. Med asks what would Jesus do and say? Though a work of fiction, The Gathering, provides a plausible and a thoughtful proposal of how Jesus would handle such a divisive issue.
I liked the idea and offered to give the book some of the stuff I give to clients of my PR firm, TransMedia Group—our miraculous publicity.
Our publicity will focus on the book’s central, Jesus-like character who challenges everyone, no matter their position or opinion
“Challenging everyone He met is what Jesus did over 2,000 years ago,” said Fr. Med. “That is what Jesus would do today.”
Love Adds a Little Chocolate
Probably the most known of Fr. Med’s nine books is Love Adds a Little Chocolate, 100 Stories to Brighten Your Day and Sweeten Your Life.
After sales reached 30,000 copies, Warner Books bought the publishing rights for $250,000 and it became their lead book in January, 1998.
Fr. Med’s appearances at bookstores across the country helped to sell over 105,000 copies of Love Adds a Little Chocolate at Warner Books. Two Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul books reprinted Fr. Med’s story, A Lesson for Life.
Fr. Med also has other yet unpublished books and plays including “Good Pope John” and “A Higher Calling.
Treats for the Soul
Yes, I admire Fr. Med. He’s a Prolific Catholic Priest Who after 50 years in the priesthood, is still spreading love and spiritual enlightenment through his books, plays and a weekly blog called Treats (TreatsfortheSoul.org).
Besides the bad rap Catholic priests get today, our publicity will show undaunted priests like Fr. Med keep spreading messages of love, compassion and spiritual growth long after they retire from preaching from pulpits.
Amen.
TM