"Oh! What is the name of the cat?" I replied.

"Cat!" said Betty.

"Yes!, what is the name of the cat?"

"Cat!" She then explained that the animal was named by a little girl, her granddaughter. Being a toddler at the time, she simply pointed at things and named them. Hence, Cat.

I recalled many years ago, when twelve, the family obtained a Parakeet, a green and white one. Because of its coloured feathers I named it Eamon De Valera, long time Prime Minister and President of Ireland. An intelligent bird, it learned to talk quickly but it did take two years to learn to say its' name.

This brings us to the completion of Lent. Father Alan led the seminar group in a discussion of the various people, personalities and perceptions involved in the passion of Christ. We discussed the different roles of both major and minor characters in the trial and death of Jesus. Once again, I noticed the role played by women in general and one woman in particular.

First, in spite of theologians pointing to Peter as the first apostle to speak with Jesus after the rising, it was mainly the women who followed Him through the execution and went to the tomb and proclaimed "The Christ Alive" to the then hiding male followers.

Second is the role played by a little known person named Salome. This woman is recorded throughout the final weeks of His ministry. She asks Jesus to remember His cousins James and John, when he establishes his kingdom. [Matt 20: 20, 27:56]. In Matt. 27 and Mark 15 she was at the crucifixion, in Mark 16 it is she with Mary Magdalen who finds the tomb empty on Easter Sunday. It is to her home that John takes Mary on Good Friday. As Mary's older sister she is the aunt of Jesus. The early church declared her a saint, but with the growing prominence of the Virgin Mary during the Middle Ages, she tended to be forgotten.

Till next time .....

John Upton
1st May 2003