‘Tidings of Great Joy’

SPARTA  Instead of greeting people with “Have a Merry Christmas” this season, Rich Fritzky of St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish here takes special pleasure in saying, “Have a Blessed Christmas.”

That’s in part because Fritzky understands more about the limitless scope of the blessings that God has bestowed on him — especially in the face of a catastrophic illness that he suffered 11 years ago and left him severely disabled. Today he is confined to a wheelchair after having fought a fierce battle with Neisseria Meningitis — acute inflammation of the protective membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord — that left him a quadruple amputee and has led him to grapple with numerous surgeries and excruciating pain. Yet he is filled with a joy that most people could never understand. With a strong belief that God has blessed him with the “gift of suffering,” he details that suffering in 25 Advent reflections in his latest book, “Tidings of Great Joy — Keeping Christmas.”

“This book had been on mind but I never delved into my illness and recovery. Most people would view my experience as catastrophic and negative, but I cover it here faithfully, spiritually and joyfully,” said Fritzky, who with wife his Maggie, has 12 children and 18 grandchildren with two more on the way. “I came home [from rehabilitation] at Christmastime, which always has been the most special time for me. Advent is a time of reflection and prayer. We can get away from the hustle and bustle of life to see our place in the heart of the divine and count our blessings — making us worthy of Christmas,” he said.

Fritzky took his message of hope in the midst of despair to Our Lady of the Lake Parish, Sparta, and Sacred Heart Parish, Lyndhurst, where he spoke about and signed copies of “Tidings of Great Joy.” In November, Tate Publishing issued the 336-page book — part memoir, part spiritual reflection. He wrote the book in nine months — one entry for each of the 24 days of Advent, plus Christmas.

Fritzky draws inspiration for “Tidings of Great Joy” not only from his own health challenges, which began in 2005, but also from the classic novel “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens. The author wrote of his rehabilitated Scrooge, “And it was always said of him that he knows how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed that knowledge.” Fritzky accomplishes that goal by counting the many everyday and miraculous “gifts of goodness and grace” — spiritual, emotional and inspirational — that he received from God and innumerable people — blessings that he writes “tempered the unbelievable suffering, trauma and loss” that he experienced.

The journey that Fritzky took from the darkness of pain and suffering and back out into the light of hope and faith included his suffering amputation of portions of both legs and most of the fingers on both hands. The author also suffered painful bedsores, a kidney transplant that was followed by a pulmonary embolism, a double hernia and numerous other health challenges, such as end-stage renal disease and colon cancer. Today, all of these seemingly debilitating disabilities have not slowed down Fritzky, who spins around on the main level of his house in a special wheelchair.

“The recovery has been long and agonizing. But I was never mad at God. I was in a coma for four months and my brain should have been fried and my heart should have given out. At times, I had a 107-degree fever and my heart raced like a marathon runner,” Fritzky told The Beacon in 2015 for the release of “A Pilgrim’s Song: Mary Varick and Her Theology of Suffering,” a book about his aunt, who devoted herself leading an extensive ministry that cared for disabled people. “I feel blessed. Neisseria Meningitis kills 90 percent of its victims. Out of all this suffering, madness and darkness, I am improbably still here. The prayers of many and the grace of God saw me through,” he said.

Fritzky counts the blessings of his wife, Maggie, their children and grandchildren and his doctors, as well as many of the people he met along this faith journey, including many of the staff and patients at Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, West Orange. Among them was Kelly, a 19-year-old woman, who broke her neck while diving into a pool. Both of them inspired and became beacons of strength and hope for each other, during their recoveries, the author writes.

“In ‘Tidings of Great Joy,’ I explore the gifts of greatness in our lives that invite us to higher ground: a chance to get close to the Almighty,” said Fritzky, an adjunct professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University for more than 30 years. “That’s the great love that God extends to us at Christmas. To keep Christmas well, we need to be mindful of what we are celebrating and love those we care about. That’s what make life worthwhile and what carries you home,” he said.

[Copies of “Tidings of Great Joy” are $20 each. To order, visit Amazon.com, or send Fritzky a check to 9 Roseville Rd., Stanhope, N.J. 07874. He also is available for speaking engagements at (973) 446-0789.]