– Brought to you by Fr. Bernardino Andrade (bernardinodandrade@gmail.com)
Huey Long was a very colorful Louisiana politician who had hopes of running for the presidency in 1936. He began as an unschooled farm boy and ended up in the governor’s mansion, one of the most popular politicians in the history of the state.
Long was born in the central part of Louisiana, and when he first campaigned for governor, he was given some advice about the voters in the New Orleans area: « South Louisiana is different from the northern part of the state, », he was told, «We have a lot of Catholic voters down here. » Long nodded knowingly and went out to make his speech. It began, “When I was a boy, I’d get up at six every Sunday morning, hitch our old horse up to the buggy, and take my Catholic grandparents to Mass. I’d bring them home and then take my Baptist grandparents to Church.” The speech was a rousing success.
Afterward, a New Orleans political boss said, “Huey, you’ve been holding out on us. We didn’t know you had Catholic grandparents.” Huey looked at him slyly and said, “We didn’t even have a horse!”.
Don’t let anybody mislead you. Around the banquet table of God there won’t be Baptists, or Catholics, or Methodists. There won’t even be a head table reserved for the very saintly. There will only be sinners for whom Christ died. That includes you and me. Everyone is invited.
Love and Peace,
Fr. Bernardino Andrade