Faith, Hope and Love with a Blue Blanket!

I have it on good authority from a seminarian of the Diocese of Charlotte currently in formation at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, that Linus grew up to be a priest.

"Of course Linus grew up to be a priest," he said. "If I have not given you the complete story, just let me know."

It was yesterday (February 5th) when he emailed me that. After emailing my reply that I was eagerly awaiting the complete details about Fr. Linus, the reply was waiting in my 'in' box for me this morning from Philadelphia.

The rest of the story about Linus comes from a conversation the seminarian had with a group of eighth graders. The conversation was supposed to be theological, and it was; but it also revealed to story about Linus. Here is how the story goes:

I mentioned the image of Snoopy on [a] poster, and asked them if they were familiar with the characters in the series. When they agreed, and looked at me strangely because this guy in a clerical collar was asking about a cartoon, I began questioning them. “Who is Charlie Brown’s best friend?” I asked. When one responded “Linus,” I asked if they knew what vocation Linus chose in life. When the said nothing, but looked attentively, I revealed my theory: “Linus grew up to be a priest!”

Being met with some laughter, I began to ask questions that directly relate to theology. “What are the three theological virtues?” I inquired, and, with a little help from his friends, one young man answered, “faith, hope, and love.” I agreed, and then told them that I could demonstrate that Linus typifies these three virtues. Beginning with hope, I asked the class what hope was, and if they knew in which episode Linus showed a great degree of hope. After giving a few hints, one young lady exclaimed, “The Great Pumpkin!” Confirming that answer, I clarified for some of the class that she had correctly identified an example of the virtue of hope. Moving to love, I asked the class how Linus treated his best friend, Charlie Brown and his younger sister, Sally. After a moment of discussion, we settled on the fact that Linus showed love in his relationships with others. A few of the students mentioned specific instances of this virtuous behavior. As an aside, I mentioned that Sally was always declaring her love for Linus but that he was always, in a loving way, rejecting her overtures. He was obviously called to celibacy.

We then moved to the virtue of faith, and I asked if anyone could tell me an episode where Linus showed faith. One young woman raised her hand and said, “the Christmas episode.” It is Linus who proclaims the gospel at Christmas, sharing the faith of the Church. One final aspect of his priestly vocation was the blanket he carries. I asked if they knew what color the blanket was. Most responded, with some enthusiasm, “Blue.” “Who is represented by blue?” I asked. “Mary” they responded. I agreed, and informed them that devotion to the Blessed Mother was important in the life of every Catholic, and essential in the life of a priest. We concluded with a review of the virtues, the examples we saw of them, and a mention Marian devotion.

Incidentally, please note the fine print below stating that this story is copyrighted and used by permission of the author.

[Acknowledgments: the story above, "Faith, Hope, and Love with a Blue Blanket!" is by Benjamin Adam Roberts (copyright © 2005 Benjamin Adam Roberts), and reproduced here by kind permission of the author.]