Primate

"What's a primate?"
"A monkey," I replied.

Silence.
I had a lurking hunch I had said something wrong.
The professor peered at me.

"When Pope John XXIII wanted to convoke a Vatican Council, many primates or bishops in the curia was opposed to the idea. They felt there was nothing wrong with the church and the idea of assembling bishops from all over the world was useless."

My classmates giggled quietly.
Ooops.
I couldn't help thinking about rodents and mischievousness since my garden is constantly pestered. Three inch holes and a trail of broken stems signaled the antics of an opossum.

I usually ignored these inteferences because I knew the animal was blind.
However, my dưa gang (melon fruit) was ripening beautifully.
Visitors told me I could only get rid of an opossum with a professional exterminator.

"His secretary said, "This is an important decision. One does not make it alone." The Pope replied, "You are right. The Holy Spirit and I have decided that the Church needs a council!" Well, thank God John XXIII stayed his course because the Second Vatican Council mark the Roman Catholic Church's recognition that we need to dialogue with the world if we are to give it the good news of Jesus. Any aspect of human life can be utilized for evangelization. This was the root of St. Therese's holiness. However, we are still slow in implementing its directives."

I didn't have to get rid of the opossum.
I planted orange flags (left over from some landscaping project) in my garden.
I bent it at a right angle of 90 degrees. Enough to send a "stay away" message.

This was 9 weeks ago.
My sisters thought I had gone crazy as they gazed on the mishmash of mums, melons, and orange flags. My opossum friend understood. It came through quarter-way yesterday and turned back.

"It was obvious to everyone in the Curia in 1962 that Pope John XXIII was crazy to expect thousands of primates to agree on such issues as scriptural interpretation and the role of the laity. The Pope was going to create more problems. In hindsight, John XXIII prepared the Church to grapple with the problem of relativism today. He did it by preventing a "closed door" atmosphere."

The class ended.
I was ready to go home and make my daily check-up of the dưa gang.

"Sister, that was a good one!"
Deacon Jose winked at me.

"Did you really think I meant to say that!?!" I exclaimed. "I would've preferred to share that since there were so many bishops, the only meeting room big enough was in St. Peter's Basilica. Eventually, two coffee bars set up behind the bishops. After a few days, they nicknamed it Bar-Jonah!"

ps1. Photo of the dưa gang with its orange flags.
ps2. In Hebrew, bar means "son of" . Jonah is John. Bar-Jonah refers to St. Peter, "son of John." (Jn 21:17)