Blogs by Flo Fitzpatrick
Father Joe
7/1/2026 9:09:26 AM
The closest person I ever knew to being a “true” Christian, back when I was a teenager, was Father Joe Zonotas. He was a small man, wore glasses that must have had a prescription somewhere near to “Wow! Without these the guy is legally blind”, balding. The kind of looks no one notices.
He introduced me to the Moody Blues’ record On The Threshold of a Dream, which quickly became worn out from use. He managed to get my mom, who was loving and wonderful, but when theology beckoned still in the 19th Century, into the 20th, managing to get someone who was possibly the furthest from “sin” to quit hitting the Confessional once a week! He was possibly helped by Vatican Two who didn’t cross the finish line but at least made some inroads into some of the more medieval offenses of the Church.
Father Joe firmly believed in Christian charity. His “off-duty” threads were always a pair of nondescript trousers, a faded shirt and the rattiest, grayest, sweater I’ve ever seen out of a dumpster. The ladies in the parish never figured it out and continued to send him dozens of lovely shirts and sweaters throughout the year. They always ended up on folks in Waco who lived in what we called No Mans Land. (None of the surrounding cities wanted to own it and sanitation and utilities were not what one would call stellar. Putrid was closer.) He said Mass for in non-existent parishes and counseled and marched in protest when people fought for basic Civil Rights.
Father Joe once told me (not sure if I was the only one, or my whole family…doesn’t matter) that his concept of “hell” didn’t conform to the fire and brimstone laid down during the Dark Ages and continuing throughout most of the 20th Century. He believed that “hell”, whether in this life or hereafter, was the absolute absence of love. Constant, eternal. No love. No care. Nothing.
I think about what Joe said when I read statements from so-called Christian leaders who embrace Donald Trump and MAGA and all that they stand for. When I read about J.D. Vance, the fake Catholic, denouncing priests and the pope for upholding the traditions of Christ when it comes to humanity.
I have to wonder, Do these haters REALLY believe in an Afterlife? It’s rooted in Christian teachings. What do they think is going to happen after they die? How they did get so wedded to wealth and power or simple hate of anyone who doesn’t look like them? Did Vance once pause to think, “Maybe the Church I pledged my soul to had it right?”
How can he and the others who worship the corruption so clearly in view around them expect to be greeted one day with “Welcome to Heaven”?
My view is when they die and hit those gates instead of whatever banquet of goodies they apparently think they deserve, the reality will be quite different.
As in “Stay where you are and do not enter beyond these gates. You ask why? Let us explain. You looked the other way when ICE was throwing children into cages. You looked the other way when children died in an unjust war in a country you can’t even locate on a map. You looked the other way when underage girls were raped and abused. You looked the other way when people who weren’t “white” were deemed “Illegal” and you asked that their rights be stripped from them. You looked the other way when children died because benefits were stripped from them that would have provided food and shelter. You looked the other way when the golden calf called Trump belittled and mocked and ranted and raped and constantly raked in money that should have gone to help the poor and the hungry. Well, you got your wish. You’re going to follow Donnie into hell. And let us explain. A priest who showed true Christian values had it right. Hell isn’t a little dude with horns dancing around a well of brimstone (which is bad enough!)
Hell is the absence of love. And, since you clearly didn’t understand the concept of love in your former life, we’re happy to continue in this one.
You now will experience the absence of love… for eternity.”
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