Which Cat Am I (this week)?

I write a tiny (in size) column for our parish bulletin every week. Sometimes it connects with the readings of the week in a faith formation kind of way, sometimes it's meant to get people thinking about evangelization and sometimes it is meant to ready people for the future (in light of the Pastoral Planning process here). This past week, someone mentioned that she was going to cut out my column and put it on her refrigerator, which I took as the utmost compliment. She said it made her wonder which cat she was... so, for your fridge (I expect to see it next time I visit...) here's that column:

We have two young cats who are very different from each other. You can tell as soon as you meet them that they have different personalities (felinalities?). One of them is happy and content, pleased to lay around, chase a flashlight beam in the evenings, and fill his belly with food. He sits in the windowsills and placidly observes the world.

The other cat, though, has a heart for adventure- she wants to get out in the world and see it all! We are constantly on guard when coming in or going out the door as she will, Houdini-like, slip by in a bold escape attempt. Usually we stop her, but sometimes she's just too fast and wily. When she does get out, she looks around and then comes back to the door with a  pathetic mew to be let back in.

The cats remind me of my own relationship with God - a God who shows me the limits and boundaries for how I should live my life, who has expectations of me, who wants me to live within the plan God has set for me. I can relate to how God might feel, watching my determination to live life according to my own rules, even though God’s intentions for me are (as my parents used to say) for my own good.

I see now that there's a freedom to living within God's intention for us - we don't have to be tempted by the "outside world" and can be content, happy, and free when we stay in God's house.