Celebrated defense attorney, Ron Yengich, reminds of a prize fighter I know. When in the ring (or courtroom, for Yengich) the boxer is fierce and bold. He thrives on combat.
Away from the ring, however, my fighter friend is thoughtful, collected and kind.
I met up with Yengich — outside the ring — during a rain delay at a ball game recently. And with me being a religion columnist and he a devout Roman Catholic, the topic soon turned to faith.
Long story short, he ended up sending me a book written by Pope John Paul I. Not John Paul II, but the pope who died before any of us got to know him.
The book made me realize how much we lost when we lost the man.
The volume is called "Illustrissimi" and it's a gem filled with warmth and light.
In the book, the pope pens letters to leaders, thinkers and celebrities. He even writes to fictional characters. Mark Twain gets a letter, so do King David, Penelope and St. Luke.
But the letter that lodged in my heart was the letter to Pinocchio, a letter brimming with charm and wisdom.
In his letter, the pope tells Pinocchio that the boy will soon be 13 and warns, "It will be difficult both for you and your teachers." He tells the little wooden head, "You'll feel a powerful urge to assert yourself … On the one hand, you'll demand independence from your family; on the other you'll long to be accepted by your peers."
He goes on: "Today youngsters dream not just of automobiles but of a whole parking lot of auto-morals, auto-choice, auto-decisions, auto-government. … Like nearly all youngsters between the ages of seventeen and twenty, on your way to autonomy, you may strike against a hard rock — the problem of faith. If fact, you'll breathe in anti-religious objections as you breathe the air at school, in the factory, in the cinema and everywhere else. If you think of your faith as a heap of corn, then a whole army of rats will attack it. If it's a garment, hundreds of hands will try and tear it off you. … Don't fling away your faith! Ten thousand difficulties, Newman said, do not make a doubt."
Then the kindly pope tells Pinocchio the loudest criticisms will be against the church. To help, he tells the boy a story where "a preacher kept being interrupted by a dirty unkempt man."
"The Church has existed for 2,000 years," this man shouted at one point, "and the world is still full of thieves, adulterers and murderers."
"You're right," replied the preacher. "Water has existed for two million years, and look at the state of your neck!"
The pope's point to Pinocchio?
Don't be afraid of the water.
Use the church to cleanse you.
He quotes Lacordaire: "Have an opinion and make it work for you."
In short, JPI left us quite a book.
Thank you, Brother Yengich.
Email: jerjohn@desnews.com