Rocco & Bertie

From the Desk of Fr. Ignatius, c.p.

Sunday, Novemnber 15, 2009

 The posters were everywhere during the week:  Rocco is missing!

Was it a cat-napping, was it abduction in hope of ransom or, dread the thought, was Rocco dead in this dark month of November?  And everyone who heard the news was sad, especially Bro. Denis!  For the few who do not know, Rocco is an extraordinary black cat, who thinks like a dog, loves going on walks, is loved by everyone, is talked about by everyone and is almost as famous as John and Edward. 

He is also very religious and loves to go to the eleven o’clock mass on Sunday but is usually carried out before it’s over – even though he is quite reverent and never makes noise.  He has a particular liking for funerals , maybe because he always dresses neatly in black and he’s been responsible for a few conversions in his time, the most notable being Fr. Kenneth’s complete cure from being terrified of cats to loving them!  Well, this particular one!

Bertie, for those who don’t know, is a heron who has made his home in Mount Argus Park.  He took his name from another, slightly more famous Ahern.  Unlike Rocco, Bertie doesn’t try to go to mass but like Rocco, everyone knows him and talks about him.  His is unfazed by his fame, unruffled by the chattering of the seagulls and there’s something almost human about his hunched miserable look on these cold days.

Rocco and Bertie bring a smile to our faces, unite people in chat who otherwise might not talk at all and so both are doing God’s work without bragging about it!

It’s always been known that babies in prams have the safe effect:  we smile and talk as together we gaze, admire, and dote on the wonder that is a baby. 

All of which reminds me of the well-known words of Antoine de Saint Exupery, “Love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking together in the same direction.” 

It is one of the reasons that we gather together Sunday after Sunday to try and look together in the same direction, to gaze on Jesus, to let him shine on us and to be reconciled and united as a people because we are looking together in the same direction.

PS:  Rocco was found alive and fairly well!!