I saw God at the pet shop Friday night.

God appearing as Love.

     I saw God at the pet shop Friday night.

Mother Teresa said, “Where there is love, there is God.” I saw God at the local pet shop Friday night where I stopped after work to buy food for our family’s pet rabbits.

The aisle with rabbit food also has food for guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils and ferrets, plus cages and various products for each type of animal. I was looking at the bunny treats when God quietly slipped into the aisle and stood beside me. He appeared as Love.

An old woman shuffled into the aisle. She had close cropped grey hair in no particular style, old Bermuda shorts, a T-shirt and a dingy pink sweater. The right side of her face was darkened with some sort of bumps on her skin and she had very few remaining teeth.

We were beside each other, kind of shoulder to shoulder but facing opposite directions since she was looking at hamster cages on the other side of the aisle. I looked at her and she looked at me. We both smiled. Then I went on trying to choose pet food for the rabbits.

Suddenly a boy about age 7 raced into the aisle. He was excited and trying to make up his mind which of the 3 hamster cages he liked best. One cage had a circular staircase with a box at the top for the hamster to sit in, another had an attached ball so the little thing could run to its heart’s delight and the third had several tunnels and tiny box houses on top.

Nabi Sayeth: Didn't the Bishops Get the Memo or Did it Get Lost in their Piles of "Stuff?"

Luke 9: 58…..Jesus said, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”

And then there’s our beloved St. Mother Teresa….

Mother Teresa served the poor in humble surroundings with none of the luxuries of modern life. 

Lessons on the Snakes of Life

This?

Yesterday as I was cleaning the patio I saw a small brown, therefore probably poisonous, snake lying under one of the plants. It was outstretched, lying perfectly still. It looked like it was thinking. Possibly wondering where it wanted to go and curl up. I held my breath, backed away, then turned and raced to the garage to get the hoe. Once back and with the hoe poised to kill I sneaked up on the snake still lying in the same outstretched position. I tiptoed up behind it and THWACK! I got it! Right behind its head! I held the hoe firmly down on the pavement but oddly the snake didn’t squirm. I edged a bit closer and noticed that it was already dead, possibly injured at some point by one of my rabbits (one of them killed a rat once) then dried up by the hot sun. When I stooped to look more closely I saw that it wasn’t a snake at all but a long brown dead leaf which had fallen from the Amaryllis plant above. Whew! No snake infestation. Thank goodness.

But then that night snakes infested my dreams. I dreamed that I was in some sort of camp (I’ve been reading The Catholic Martyrs of the Twentieth Century by Robert Royal). There were no people around since they were all either working in the fields or in brain-washing classes. I was in charge of cleaning the Commandant’s office and there lying on the carpet was a long skinny green snake, which very obviously meant that there was a snake infestation, or soon going to be, which in turn meant trouble from the evil Commandant. Wanting to keep an eye on the snake to see where it went, I called out for someone to bring me a hoe.

Sunday Meditation: Isolation is the Devil's Workshop!

 Family life is an antidote to isolation!

I was reading the Lectio Divina (commentary on the Gospel) in my Magnificat before Mass this morning and stopped abruptly to reflect a bit when I reached this passage from St. John Chrysostom:

"The Spirit drags Jesus into the desert, since he wanted to draw the devil there; and Jesus gave occasion to him not only on account of his hunger but also on account of the place: for then most especially does the devil attack, when he sees people isolated and by themselves."

Jesus was attacked and tempted in His isolation. When, I asked myself, have I been most tempted to discouragement and despair? Isn't it when I feel alone, abandoned by those around me? I remember one Christmas years ago when many challenges robbed me of joy. Surrounded by family, I nevertheless felt alone, my spirit locked in darkness. I felt isolated and unhappy, but resisted the temptation to rob joy from those around me. So I smiled and prepared the feast although my heart felt like a stone. By the end of the day, serving others had lifted my spirits considerably. Which I think is a serious lesson. When we stop looking at ourselves in our misery and look outward to others (and especially to the face of Jesus), we cannot remain stuck in the slough of despond.

Happy Feast Day, Blessed Mother!

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is the perfect day to remember and celebrate Humanae Vitae which will be 50 years old next summer. Most readers probably know I'm referring to Pope Paul's encyclical on the sanctity of human life and marriage that reiterated the Catholic doctrine that a couple, in exercising their marital privilege, must never attack the act by deliberately rendering it sterile. The gift God gave married couples in "knowing" each other and becoming almost literally "one flesh" must respect both of God's purposes -- to unite the couple in love and to be open to the blessing of a child to the union if it be God's will.

In Humanae Vitae Pope Paul VI warned of the dangers of setting aside God's purpose for married love and all the horrors he described have come to pass: abortion, loss of respect for women, government coercion, etc.

As we honor Mary today, I want to share a bit from a talk by Malcolm Muggeridge on Humane Vitae which he gave in 1979. Even then, the disasters of contraception already loomed clearly on the horizon:

I saw God at the pet shop Friday night

Mother Teresa said, “Where there is love, there is God.” I saw God at the local pet shop Friday night where I stopped after work to buy food for our family’s pet rabbits.

The aisle with rabbit food also has food for guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils and ferrets plus cages and various products for each type of animal. I was looking at bunny treats when God quietly slipped into the aisle and stood beside me. He appeared as Love.

An old hunched over woman shuffled into the aisle. She had close cropped grey hair in no particular style, old Bermuda shorts, a T-shirt and a dingy pink sweater. The right side of her face was darkened with some sort of bumps on her skin and she had very few remaining teeth.

We were beside each other, kind of shoulder to shoulder but facing opposite directions since she was looking at hamster cages on the other side of the aisle. I looked at her and she looked at me. We both smiled. Then I went on trying to choose pet food for the rabbits.

Suddenly a boy about age 7 raced into the aisle. He was excited and trying to make up his mind which of the 3 hamster cages he liked best. One cage had a circular staircase with a box at the top for the hamster to sit in, another had an attached ball so the little thing could run to its hearts delight and the third had several tunnels and tiny box houses on top.

On the Eve of Mother Teresa's Canonization, a Lovely and Inspiring Story!

May Jesus Christ be praised! I love the part where he says he prayed to Mother Teresa FOR Mother Teresa.