She is a He

Gertrude that is. Gertrude the cat.

One morning, Trudy wandered into my sister's house, hid under her bed, and refused to leave. We named "her" after St. Gertrude, patron saint of cats (and those who love them.)

This creature has been living with us for a couple years now, and only today did it occur to anyone that a trip to the vet might be in order.

We filled out some paper work, and put Trudy, now meowing profusely, on the exam table. The vet assistant lifted the tail and took a look:

"This is a neutered male," she announced. "I will be changing that on your forms."

Later, the vet did his exam and went on about "what a nice boy you are" and "he's a fine fellow isn't he?"

It struck me as somewhat surreal, since in my mind the cat has always been a girl.

Happily, Trudy tested negative for kitty leukemia, kitty herpes and kitty AIDS.

The vet suggested we make a name change to "Rudy" or something more manly. I have a feeling St. Gertrude will be keeping her namesake, however.

Into The Dust

Hello, Lent. You Are Not My Favorite.

I've not thought at all about what I'll be giving up. In the convent of course, my Lenten observances were more or less decided for me.

It was actually on Ash Wednesday of last year that I was sent on my merry way. I remember, beneath the glaze of agony, I was a bit amused by the irony of it: Here comes Lent and a primo opportunity for suffering is served up out of the blue.

At the time, I thought this was sacrifice and surrender enough (it was, but I did it badly.) I was also very sick, physically, thus I did not keep any fasts, and I ate meat the whole way through.

So, I'm a bit rusty.

There are two practices I will not be doing this year, since I think they should only be done by those who are very steady on their feet, and I am not all there, not yet. Those things are:

1. Praying for humility. God always answers this prayer in spectacular fashion. Care to run the gauntlet? Litany of Humility.

2. Figuring out the one thing you're most grateful for. Once you do that, God will be fixing to take that thing from you, so He can see if you'll love Him anyway.

From the NYC Public Library ...

Do you like my poem?

Haikus are real fun
But sometimes a little weird
Scooby-Dooby-Doo

make your own haiku, or try the random haiku generator here

Happy Valentines Day

My sister typically frets on this day about her singleness. This year she has a boyfriend, however, so all is well.

I do not mind Valentines Day very much at all. When I was a pagan I assumed that, while I was not interested in the rituals involved, and really found them quite boring, of course I would endure it all for the greater good, it being Something People Do.

Since I am now relieved of that sort of thinking, Valentines Day is no longer a major source of annoyance. In fact is is rather low on the list of Irritating Holidays.

I am not a big fan of holidays. Mostly because I appreciate the rhythm of ordinary life and prefer that it go on uninterrupted. During holidays, the news slows to a trickle. Stores close. The mail stops. Friends scatter to extended family leaving their homes empty. Television and radio schedules are changed.

Valentines Day does not involve too many of these things. It involves only crowded restaurants and a line at the florists. And for me, it involves a great deal of what is the best part of any holiday: relaxation.

That Horse Has Left the Barn

Nadya Suleman was a single, unemployed, mother of 6. Last month, she gave birth to eight more babies. And oh, the world worked itself into a lather.

Why would she have so many embryos implanted?

The "responsible thing," according to some of Ms. Suleman's critics, would've been disposal of the embryos, or donation for experimentation.

Nadya replies: "I wanted them all transferred [...] Those are my children[...]"

After conceiving eight babies, the "responsible thing," according to these same people, would've been "selective reduction," ie, abortion of a certain number of fetuses.

Why didn't she use selective reduction?

Nadya's mother replies: "She refused to have them killed."

Invitro-Fertilization (IVF) is a "feel good" procedure.

Sure, there are a few reports of irresponsible use. Ms. Suleman and her 14 children under age six. And there are those 60, 70+ year old women going to India to conceive children they will never finish raising.

But who could possibly oppose, on a fundamental level, in all cases, a technology that helps create new life?

The ugly truth about IVF is that it almost always results in:

1. The abuse of embryos via disposal/experimentation
2. Abortion of selected siblings in utero
3. Reckless motherhood

Some of the people who are raising such a ruckus about Ms. Suleman's children and how much they will cost us (and let's be frank, it really is ALL about the money,) are the same ones who have clamored in the recent past for an "intrinsic and exclusive female right" to control reproduction.

Perhaps these particular critics of Ms. Suleman are so worked up because she forces them to see the logical end of their desire to codify irresponsibility.

Shelley Fralic is, as far as I can tell, not an overtly religious person. But she observes, astutely: "The day that society, in its ceaseless endeavour to control the things it should never be allowed to control, like the weather, and conception," was the day the Ethical Horse left the Barn.

Modern-Day Leprosy

Father Thomas Rosica, CSB reflects on the Sunday readings.

"Let Us Not Fear the Sepulchers of This Earth"

"When we arrived in one of the Egyptian villages along the Nile, one of the sisters took me outside the central part of town, to an area where lepers and severely handicapped people were kept, in chains, in underground areas hidden away from civilization. It was like entering tombs of the living dead. Their lot was worse than animals. The stench was overpowering, the misery shocking, the suffering incredible.

I descended into several hovels, blessed the people with my best Arabic and said some prayers with each person. The sister accompanying me said: "Simply touch them. You have no idea what the touch means, when they are kept as animals and monsters."

I laid hands on many of these women and men and touched their disfigured faces and bodies. Tears streamed down my face as the women and men and several children shrieked at first then wept openly. They reached out to hug and embrace me. Then we all shared bottles of Coca Cola!"

I like potatoes

How many kinds of potatoes can you name?

1. Baked
2. Mashed
3. Boiled
4. Scalloped
5. Fried
6. Roasted
7. Mr./Mrs.
8. Couch
9. Au gratin

I've noticed that when I announce that I like a certain vegetable, it shortly thereafter turns out not to be a vegetable at all.

Tomatoes, they tell me, are really fruit. Potatoes are not vegetables, they are starch.

I feel that this must be a conspiracy of some kind.

Piratitude

What's a pirate's favorite element on the periodic table of elements? Arrrrgon.

International Talk Like a Pirate Day isn't until September 19th. Only 226 days left to train! Arrrrr!

Wierd Am I

My goodness, my blog has been getting a lot of hits. My new visitors all seem to want to read the couple of comments on the post immediately proceeding this one. I've read them too.

Venite Adoremus suggests that maybe people are called to religious life for a while. I suppose that a stint in a convent could be grouped with all the other temporary things God "calls" people to do ... mission trips, retreats, even a career ...

I think I have to keep in mind that most other people are different than me, in that they have that natural, inborn attraction to marriage and family life. Most other people, including, I guess, most people in convents. They are drawn to it, and so might hope or expect to find fulfillment in it.

I lack this in any significant measure, and so, my outlook is strange.

Anonymous, I hope you are reading. Please know that I offer my Holy Communion for you. I think you are right that people who are religious, even for a little while, are marked in a permanent way. We got to live with an undivided heart. Most people have to wait until Heaven to experience that.