Anyone who has cats knows how persistent they are at sticking to a schedule. If, during the week, you get up early to get ready for work, then that is always the time to get moving. In a cat’s mind, there is no such thing as a weekend or a holiday. On a typical morning, Frodo, the big, fluffy, orange cat who sleeps in my daughter’s room, begins pawing the door at about 4:50 a.m. Now, when I say that Frodo is a big cat, I mean, he’s a b-i-g cat with b-i-g paws that make a great deal of noise when he paws at a flimsy bedroom door. Couple that with his plaintive meowing and forget sleeping late…you know, until at least 6:00 a.m. I ignore him as long as possible, but Foxy, the little, fluffy cat who sleeps in my room, does not. Obviously, if Frodo is awake and pawing at the door, it is morning and time to start her ritual of going out, and coming in, and going out, and coming in. It’s a game with her, you see. She likes to see how many times I will actually go to the door in the morning to let her in and out. Yes, she is winning. Foxy doesn’t paw at the door, though. She lays on the floor, sticks her paw under the door so she can grab it, and rattles it. So now, picture this…me in my still dark bedroom, wanting to sleep at least another hour, with two cats pawing and rattling the doors. Who wins? They do, of course. I get up to let them out. However, we also have two dogs who sleep in my daughter’s room and when I let Frodo out, they have to come out, too, which means they expect breakfast. By then, I’m awake and there’s no sense in my going back to bed. It struck me this morning, though, that the silly, spoiled, lovable cats are making sure that I get up in time to say my morning office. Until they started their door rattling routine, I didn’t always have time to make morning prayer a peaceful time. It was hurried, with one eye always watching the clock. Perhaps St. Francis is making sure that the cats call me to prayer!
