Thanks go to N. and J. W. for sending in volume 3 of Pope Benedict XVI’s Jesus of Nazareth, very appropriate reading this Advent, as this slim volume covers the infancy narratives. Very thoughtful! Opening the book up at random, my eyes fell on a passage explaining the etymology of the Holy Name of Jesus: YHWH is Salvation. Indeed and Yikes! I am reminded of Genesis 3,15, wherein Yahweh Elohim, that is, Jesus, that is, the Divine Incarnate Son of the Immaculate Conception, that Woman who is the Mother of the Redeemer, provides us with enmity over against Satan, another way of saying that He Himself will provide us with salvation, created anew with sanctifying grace, becoming members of the Body of Christ.
Thanks go to J.M.R. and P.M.R. for their gift to the hermitage, along with a great note of encouragement.
May the Lord continue to bless you all according to the perfect intercession of the Immaculate Conception.
Oh, I forgot… Laudie! How could I forget?! One of the readers mentioned that she’ll soon be due for a claw trimming.
That, to me, falls into the same category of the nefarious trimming of the beaks of chickens. NOT to be done, especially for well-fed free-range chickens who are in no danger of eating each other, as are cooped-up chickens.
I mean, O.K., it’s true. If Laudie batted you with one of her paws, she could probably just about rip your guts out. As it is, she doesn’t do such things! Also, trimming her claws would be a death sentence. You have to know that she runs a billion miles an hour through the forest, bouncing off trees and cornering so sharply that her front paws stay in one place even as her back end throws up debris like a tornado. But she couldn’t do this unless she had claws! Also, in walking up the mountain the other day, past the neighbor’s machinery, which has sharp edges that could de-gut any flying dog like Laudie… well… there came Laudie at her usual billion miles an hour. I was sure she was not going to be able to stop, but would instead be totally ripped apart by that machinery, given her unstoppable trajectory. But no, she avoided such a gory fate, just barely, perhaps denting a rib or two in the process… but she lived. If she had no claws, we would now have one dead Laudie. And we don’t want that!
Accompany me, Father George David Byers, S.S.L., S.T.D., as I begin life as a Catholic Priest-Hermit by choice. Holy Souls Hermitage is dedicated to the sanctification of my fellow priests, bishops, deacons & seminarians going through the purgatory of this life or the next. Prayer and sacrifice go up, of course, for both Benedict XVI and the next Successor of Saint Peter. 
Father, that was me that mentioned her nails. If her nails get too long, they can break, which is painful and sometimes cause infection. Long nails can also cause an irregular gait that leads to skeletal damage. BUT, if you trim them wrong they can bleed profusely. My dog damaged a dew claw and he suffered quite a bit. I don’t cut his short at all; I just cut the very tips off when they begin to kind of curl under.
Laudie probably keeps hers filed down enough on the ends by all the running she does; the vets say that this does the trick. And how in the world did you get that pup to spread those paws out like that to get the picture. Too cute!
Thanks, Denise! I’m learning. Anything she does is too cute!
I know lots of women who pay lots of money to have nails like the ones Laudie grows naturally! Just saying!
While on the subject of claws I remember some years ago hearing what sounded like ghostly tinkling music outside in the garden one day. My husband went to investigate and found our tortoise walking in the metal grid placed outside the back door. Her claws were catching in between the metal strips resulting in her ‘playing’ the grid as if it were a harp! We used to trim her claws once a year but still left enough for her to grip on the ground.
But your tortoise doesn’t run a billion miles an hour, bouncing off trees, does she? LOL!
I love that precious Laudie. Right now she is full of puppy energy that can last for several years. When she slows down a bit, you may need to clip her claws just slightly. We have a boxer/hound mix that tears around the back yard and comes to a screeching halt at the fence using her back legs for a brace. We get her claws trimmed about four times a year. Otherwise they are lethal.
Barb: But for now, I suppose I could get a file and sharpen them up a bit, you know, for her own protection in cornering. This is her extreme sport. Maybe she’s recognized that I liked extreme sports as a kid as well.