Pauper

Pauper came to live with us sometime in November of 2000. We named her Pauper, because we already had a cat named “Princess”. I thought it would be funny to pair them off as ‘the Princess and the Pauper’. Princess was chosen. Pauper chose us. She had been hanging around outside the house for a few days and I told my children, who were young at that time, not to feed her. They ignored me. We already had a cat and I wasn’t interested in a second. So, I left on a business trip only to call home and have my wife tell me “I let that cat into the garage. It was really cold here last night, and I felt bad for her.” “That’s fine,” I said, “but that cat cannot come into the house.” When I arrived home, I found Pauper sleeping peacefully in our sun room. Princess was not amused.

For a while, we didn’t know if Pauper was a boy or a girl. She doesn’t like to be touched and does not like to be picked up. If you have ever seen the picture of the ‘angry cat’ on the internet, that could be Pauper. Had I realized years ago that there was a market for this feline miserableness, I could have made a small fortune on coffee mugs and shirts bearing her likeness. Her gender was confirmed when we took her to the vet for shots, an ear cleaning, and to be spayed or neutered – we weren’t sure what procedure would be required. We were quite surprised when the vet told us that she was already spayed. From that, we concluded that she may have been somebody’s pet. Perhaps they didn’t like her demeanor. Maybe she hissed, bit or scratched a child and was shown the door. She might have been a feral cat who just didn’t want to spend another winter on the streets. Despite her demeanor, Pauper found a home with us.

I am sure we all know somebody who shares personality traits with Pauper. They are the ‘feral people’ who are out in the cold because they don’t know the love of the Lord or the warmth of a faith community that cares about them. Perhaps something has happened in their life that we just don’t or can’t understand. Maybe they feel unwelcome. What can we do, as a community of God, to show our concern and welcome them back into His home?

I ask these questions because recently, the Diocese of Greensburg asked the regional Pastoral Councils to focus on evangelization. The objective is to invite lapsed Catholics to come home. There are many reasons people don’t come to Mass. Some of those reasons are personal and some are just misunderstandings. You can also factor in the busy work and activity schedules for some. In case you haven’t noticed, attendance at weekly Mass across the nation is down. It’s a serious problem and it affects our parish as well. If we don’t start reversing this trend, the impact can be very profound on the future of the local church.

We will never know why Pauper was displaced from her first home, if she had one. She is about 15 now and despite her dislike of Princess, she seemed lost when Princess passed away. Pauper has a very good life that she reluctantly shares with Pumpkin, who joined our home after she was abandoned. How can we show those in our community that we have a strong, welcoming, and vibrant parish life? We can start by inviting them to come in out of the cold to share with all of us the love of our Lord and to join us in the celebration of the Eucharist.

Cliff Gorski
Pastoral Council