Batman's Column

My Deer Parishionerz o St. Padre Pio Parish,

It iz me, Batman, da rectory doggo! I hadz a “ruff” weekend wit my Unca Dave. APPARENTLY, he thought dat it would b a good idea 2 getz a catz. I no likz catz and I wuz a bad boy. My daddo sayz dat thankfully no catz wuz harmed during my weekend escapadez. Den he read da readingz 4 dis weekend 2 me and explained-ed dat wen St. Paul talkz about da Body o Christ, he wuz not talking about ACTUAL eyez o earz o schnozoz, but dat it meanz everybody, even catz! Dere r peoplez (and udder animalz whose name rhymez wit “catz”) dat r hard 4 us 2 luv and even harder 4 us 2 imagine dat dey r a part o da Body o Christ, but dey r!!! It iz EXACTLY 4 deez people dat Jesus came into da world. He luvz us all, every part o da Body SO MUCH dat He died 4 our sake. It wuz 2 da WHOLE Body o Christ dat Jesus came “to bring glad tidings to the poor ... to proclaim liberty to captives ... recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” It’s wut da Lord not only does 4 us and wut He wantz us 2 do. So if Jesus can do it, so can we! In fact we haz 2! So, I want 2 apologize 2 Unca Dave ... AND 2 da catz 4 my behavior. And maybe, just maybe, we can luv da people in our livez who r difficult 2 luv 2, becauz everybody iz a member o da Body o Christ and we needz 2 luv dem all!

God Bless all of da Body (even da catz portion o it)! Batman, da rectory doggo