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My mother, who was all about edumicating her kiddies, used to play a game called “Jotto” with me. Do you know it?

Each person picks a five-letter word and keeps it to himself. Then you take turns guessing each other’s word. When you guess, the other person tells you how many letters in your guess are also in the secret word. So little by little you can deduce and eliminate until you know which letters are eliminated and which are in the secret word.

What's my point? What is this, Parent Magazine or what?

My alleged point is that sometimes you make a guess that is entirely wrong. The first time I did that I was crestfallen. But then I realized I had eliminated 5 letters in just one guess.

Sometimes — through frowardness, ignorance, carelessness, or, face it, just plain cussedness — we do something entirely one hundred per cent WRONG!

Pretty humiliating. This “just as I am without one plea” stuff is fine as long as we're secretly telling ourselves that we have LOTS of pleas only we're WAY too modest to bring them up. But when it's true, when it's undeniable, when you've been surfing porn or filching from work or cutting the corners a wee bit too sharply or being funky to the spouse, the parents, the small fry, or all of the above ... Ooh! Hard! Without even one tiny eensy weensy little plea!

I really have NOT ONE PLEA!

OW!

But Jesus pleads from me. And even when I recover my conceit and go right back to my strutting, he still pleads for me.

I used to say I want to die before the parousia so that I can stand next to Jesus and point out the bad guys when He comes.

I think we're all really lucky that God is in the God business and not me. He desires not the death of a sinner but that we should turn from our vanity (and all the rest) and live.

And no, He doesn't need my advice on whom to punish and how to punish them.

Praise Him for filling up our nothingness with his abundance, shaken down, pressed together, running over.

When will I learn?

Prayer For Help Against Spiritual Enemies

Glorious Saint Michael, Prince of the heavenly hosts, who stands always ready to give assistance to the people of God; who fought with the dragon, the old serpent, and cast him out of heaven, and now valiantly defends the Church of God that the gates of hell may never prevail against her, I earnestly entreat you to assist me also, in the painful and dangerous conflict which I sustain against the same formidable foe.
Be with me, O mighty Prince! that I may courageously fight and vanquish that proud spirit, whom you, by the Divine Power, gloriously overthrew, and whom our powerful King, Jesus Christ, has, in our nature, completely overcome; so having triumphed over the enemy of my salvation, I may with you and the holy angels, praise the clemency of God who, having refused mercy to the rebellious angels after their fall, has granted repentance and forgiveness to fallen man. Amen.