Me and St. Francis Are Tight

Driving to pick up the Pickle and the Pepper this afternoon, I came off the highway and was sitting at a light on this incredibly busy street when I noticed a small kitten and a woman walking behind it along the sidewalk. My initial thought was "Why on earth is walking that kitten on this busy street without a leash?"

Then my heart sank as I realized she was carefully, slowly chasing the kitten because it had gotten loose. Her dilemma was that if she moved too quickly the kitten might dart into the street or under a chain link fence that lined the edge of the sidewalk. I watched her grab at the kitten a couple of times and miss; the kitten started moving faster. She started walking faster...with one last grab, the kitten freaked out, and started running toward the street, she blocked it and it tried stuffing itself under the fence. Just as she almost had it; it would run off erratically again. I couldn't handle it. I had my eyes covered and I was yelling, "No, no, no!" Needless to say, I am not good under pressure in general.

Now growing up Catholic and going to Catholic school until 8th grade means that regardless of where you go in your life, there are certain elements of Catholicism that stay with you. For me, it's the saints. When I lose something, the first thing I do is ask St. Anthony to help me find it. On the rare occasion that I perform anymore, I ask St. Cecilia to help me get through it. I'm not saying that these saints have nothing better to do with their day than help me find my car keys, but I will say that more times than I can count a crazy idea comes to me right after I pray for intercession, and yes, in fact, somehow my car keys ended up in the freezer.

So as I was sitting in my car in fetal position with a green light ahead of me, and cars beginning their procession towards the next intersection, I couldn't handle the stress of this maniacal kitten any longer. Just as she was about to run out into the street to certain squishdom, I reflexively yelled, "St. Francis, do SOMETHING!"

No sooner were the words out of my mouth than that kitten dead stopped. Not slowed down, not stopped because something blocked it's path...just stopped. And in that second, the woman was able to snatch the little thing up and head back to her own car several yards down the street.

Now don't expect that if you pray to St. Anthony to return the family dog that ran away twelve years ago that he's going to show up on your porch next week. (Although in 1st grade,, my dog Bowser ran away and after three days of Sister Sophie having my class pray to St. Anthony, he did show up in our yard, filthy, full of burdocks but thrilled to see us.) But today, a kitten, on the verge of ending it's own little tiny life was saved at the last second when a tiny little person on this planet who doesn't claim to have all the answers cried out in fear and desperation and the Universe in it's own way, answered.

I'm just saying....