Ladies and gentlemen, there have been many stories told about our dear friend Vince today, some humorous and some touching, but I want to go in a slightly different direction and tell you something about Vince that very few people are aware of---his spiritual side.
I heard that! I heard that chuckling. You’re thinking “spiritual side?” Vince? VINCE?? Well lend me your ears, maties, and listen up good.
I first became aware of it during a casual conversation, one of thousands we had over the years, when I happened to mention an angel I had just been reading about in the book of Genesis. Vince listened politely and then started talking about eight or ten other angels, their names, what their powers were and what their jobs were. He was not showing off. He might have been discussing the starting lineup for the 1968 Phillies. He just happened to be intimately familiar with the world of angels and he was just chatting, one guy to another. I did find myself wondering, however, where the heck a guy like him came by such knowledge.
The next time this happened, I had been reading up on the argument that’s been going on for about a thousand years, mostly between Catholics and Protestants, about whether you could get to heaven by faith alone or whether you also needed to perform good works in life. I briefly explained the issue to Vince, who gently corrected me on a point and suggested I read more about it. So I did, and I realized eventually that what I had said was completely wrong. When I went back and told him, he started telling me about the Counsel of Trent, which happened from 1545 to 1563 in Trento, Italy, and where all the big Catholics of the day discussed the doctrine of justification and argued about the veneration of saints. It almost sounded like he had been there.
It was then I asked him if he had ever read the Bible, and he said, “Yeah, a few times.” And he didn’t mean he had dipped into it here and there, he meant he had read the thing from cover to cover.
But that’s not what I came here to tell you about.
What I want to tell you is that Vince was excommunicated. Do you know anybody who has ever been excommunicated? Well, for me personally, here’s the list: Martin Luther, Henry VIII and Vince.
Around 1960, Vince drifted away from his Catholic upbringing and joined a Calvinist church. I will not attempt to summarize all the beliefs of Calvinists, but generally speaking, their bottom line is that every person is hopelessly enmeshed in sin and spiritually unable to choose goodness. God, in His mercy, will save some, but people really have no say in the matter and cannot save themselves no matter what they do.
Somewhere around 1963, Vince and the elders of the church he had joined disagreed about something, and he was presented with an indictment, or a bill of particulars, or whatever they called it, and a trial for his excommunication was scheduled.
Think about that, if you would. Imagine you got that letter in the mail. Not all of us would take it the same way. Some of us, maybe me included, upon being presented with a Writ of Excommunication, would respond with something along the lines of: “Well, blank ‘em if they can’t take a joke. I ain’t showing up for your damn trial!”
But not Vince. He appeared, listened to the evidence and the arguments against him, and made his case. And he lost. A while later, he received a formal proclamation of his apostacy and excommunication.
As I look out on this crowd today, I see a number of older gentlemen who will let you know (halfway into their second bourbon), that though today they are solid citizens, there was a time in their youth when they were badasses. To these gentlemen, I say: “Fine. Maybe you were in a bar fight once, maybe you got a little rowdy on your 21st birthday, BUT DID YOU EVER GET YOURSELF EXCOMMUNICATED??”
For me, in other words, Vince raised the bar. So you got taken down to the precinct once in 1966? Fine. You got drunk and egged somebody’s car? Great. You’re a rebel all right. BUT DID YOU EVER GET YOUR ASS EXCOMMUNICATED? No? Then you’re no Vince Grieco, buddy.
So here’s to Vince, a man who went all the way, a man who lived life to the fullest, and a man who made sure he always got his money’s worth.
God bless him.
Copyright2023MichaelKubacki
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