By Thomas Creen, MJ • Phoenix, AZ
A holy soul who recently departed from us was Mr. Ed Vota, at the venerable age of 92. Ed was an excellent member of Miles Jesu for many years and his son, Fr. Paul Vota, MJ, was the first priest ever ordained for Miles Jesu. The following incident from Ed’s life illustrates who he was:
Ed and his wife Doris (also an MJ member) used to belong to a parish called St. Philomena’s. One evening, the pastor called a parish meeting and Ed was there. The pastor pointed out that the parish was named after St. Philomena but had no image of her in the church. He wanted to order a statue of St. Philomena for the parish but he needed the parishioners to donate the money to cover it. No one volunteered to help until Ed raised his hand and committed to it.
When he got home and told Doris, she wasn’t sure if that was the best decision for their budget at the time. But they both agreed to stick to the pledge. And the parish got its statue.
Fast forward a few decades. Ed was in the old neighborhood and made a visit to St. Philomena’s. When he came into the church, he noticed a man praying there alone. They got to talking and Ed mentioned he was a former parishioner and about the story of the statue.
The man was astounded and said to Ed, “I am a convert to the Catholic Church. I used to be a Protestant minister. One day I was feeling down and decided to come in here to pray. While I was praying, that statue of St. Philomena told me I needed to become a Catholic. Long story short…here I am. Thank you for paying for that statue.”
This one incident tells us a lot. Ed was generous, trusted in the Lord, was prayerful, devout, and kept his word. An instrument of the Lord.
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