Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Home and Religion
The God Who Knows All Names

The God Who Knows All Names

Last updated on: April 25, 2025 at 3:05 pm by Mary Pezzulo

0 Comments

The God Who Knows All Names 2025-04-25T15:05:02-04:00 Mary Pezzulo

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Charlie the cat, under the lilac bush

photo by Mary Pezzulo

I woke up anxious.

I have been at peace since the Easter liturgy, but it’s not surprising that the anxiety trickled back. Healing is not linear. For several days I was certain that God didn’t hate me and was showing me the path of life. That was a beautiful Easter gift. But this morning, the anxiety rushed back in. I was afraid of the vengeful god of the Charismatic renewal. I felt as if Jesus was angry that the PTSD is still so strong that I can’t go in a confessional, and sometimes not even to Mass. I felt as if I was going to hell.

I sat in bed, cringing at the thought of God, for an hour, and then I got up to tend the garden.

Charlie the cat was on the doorstep.

I’ve never had a cat in my life. I don’t know what I’m doing, but we’re working out our differences. I’ve tried picking Charlie up and setting her in the litter box when she squats over the garden beds, but that hasn’t been an effective teaching tool yet. I’ve looked up what food a cat needs. She gets a can of Friskies in the morning and a handful of kibble or a slice of whitefish before bed, plus horrible smelly chicken-flavored treats in the afternoon. Even though she never goes into the house, we haven’t had to set a mousetrap since she came– I think the mice were coming in under the porch. She used to stalk the guinea pig when the pig grazed in the backyard, but now she leaves her alone. She does not like toys yet, but she likes to pounce on the tall grass.

Charlie had a bad habit of giving a warning bite and batting at me with claws out when she’s nervous. If she’s on my lap when the claws come out, I’ll gently take the paw and say “No, Charlie. Be nice,” and usually, the claws go in. If she bites at me more than once, I say “That’s enough, Charlie” and get up and go to the backyard. Charlie will follow me there. She likes to watch me garden from under the lilac bush. By this method, she’s begun to stop biting and clawing. We are getting along.

There was so much to do making Charlie comfortable and working in the garden, that I forgot to be anxious for awhile.

Later that day I was pulling weeds, with the cat watching from under the lilac bush, when one of the Dodgers appeared. “Hi, Rosie!”

Several of the neighborhood children call me Rosie, because Jimmy’s boy calls my house “Rosie’s house.” Adrienne went by her middle name, Rosie, for the first ten years of her life, before she switched to going by her first name. So they know a Rosie lives here, and assume it’s me.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m just getting the dandelions from the edge of Miss Kim’s property,” I said, nodding to the haunted house. “They’re harmless in the middle of the lawn. Bees love them. But I don’t want them growing in the sidewalk or the planters, so we’ll throw these onto the compost and leave the rest alone.”

“Who lives in that house?” asked the girl.

“Nobody. Miss Kim died, and I don’t know who owns the place now. Probably the bank.”

“The bank owns our house!” said the girl cheerfully. “Well, they did. Now we have a new landlord. I didn’t like the old one. Mom gave her forty dollars, but she kept coming back every day saying ‘Give me fifty dollars! Give me fifty dollars!’ The new one is better.'”

“Landlords are a problem.”

“So-and-so says your name is MARY.”

I explained how I came to have two names as we threw the dandelions on the compost, and went around to the front, with Charlie tagging along.

The cat I call Buster, whom the Dodgers call Sparkles, was on the porch, staring cautiously at us. Buster still lives in the Artful Dodgers’ house. The two cats used to play together, but since Charlie started living on my porch, she’s gotten into brawls with any cat who comes to visit.

“Careful! Don’t let Sparkles eat from Charlie’s– I mean, from Kili’s bowl.” The Dodgers called Charlie “Kili.” They laughed when they found out I gave the cat a new name. “Let’s give them both a treat, SEPARATE from each other, so they don’t fight.”

Before I could stop her, the Dodger poured out an enormous serving of kibble in Charlie’s bowl and all over the porch. Buster immediately helped herself, and Charlie arched her back in fury. I ran to get a chicken treat and held it out for the older cat. After a moment’s standoff, Charlie sat on my lap, licking up the smelly puree, still murderously eyeing the kit.

“At home, we fill a drawer with cat food and all the cats eat together,” said the girl. “Do you want to keep Kili and Sparkles?”

“I’m afraid I only have room for one cat,” I said. “I’ll keep Kili here, but that has to be all.”

“The new landlord says we have to get rid of all our cats because we’ve got too many kids.”

“Not too many cats?”

“No,” said the girl, “Too many kids. There’s too many kids and the house is dirty, so we have to get rid of our cats. I want them to go to people in the neighborhood so we can still play with them. Last year Kili had five babies, one for each of us! But the kittens drank up all the milk and the littlest one died!”

“How many litters has she had?”

The girl couldn’t remember if it was three or four. “One of the litters froze to death in winter.”

“It sounds like she’s had a hard life.”

The girl walked her hand towards Charlie, who lunged at it. She smiled as she pulled it away at the last second. Charlie got angrier and angrier as she repeated this trick several times.

“Be careful! She’ll bite you!” I said, just as Charlie lunged at her wrist.

She giggled and teased the cat more boisterously. Charlie started pouncing with real vehemence, not a warning bite anymore. Thankfully, the girl was wearing long sleeves when the cat latched on and pulled.

“Why are you freaking out?” said the girl. “I’ve had cats biting me since I was two!”

By the time the girl left with Buster, Charlie was halfway to feral.

I brought out a slice of whitefish and poured broth over it. “It’s okay, Charlie. This is a safe place. There’s plenty of food. You don’t have to fight anymore.”

That night, after I picked Michael up from work, I sat on the porch. Charlie sat next to me for awhile, then cautiously made herself at home in my lap. Every time a stray wandered by the yard, she’d jump up, hissing, and I’d reassure. “It’s all right, Charlie. You’re safe now. This is a welcoming place with plenty to eat, and it’s going to be all right.”

Every time she clawed out, I’d hold her paw and repeat the reassurance.

And then I repeated it to myself.

And then God repeated it to me.

Or maybe God didn’t, but that’s what I felt.

There, in the yard, in the haze of a warm spring night, with the incense of the lilac bush filling the air, I held the traumatized cat, and God held the traumatized me.

The God Who knows every shameful and tragic story of everyone who lives in this dilapidated steel mill town, held me. The God Who knows the name of every creature, both the names we give each other and the names we call ourselves, reassured me. The Just Judge who cannot be deceived looked down at this deplorable world, and loved anyway.

It’s all right. You’re safe now. This is a welcoming place with plenty of grace for everyone, and you’re safe.

Evening came and morning followed, and I wasn’t afraid.

Mary Pezzulo is the author of Meditations on the Way of the Cross, The Sorrows an d Joys of Mary, and Stumbling into Grace: How We Meet God in Tiny Works of Mercy.

Steel Magnificat operates almost entirely on tips. To tip the author, donate to “The Little Portion” on paypal or Mary Pezzulo on venmo

Home and Religion

Family, Parenting and Religion

Previous Post

April 22, 2025

The Great LaBelle Easter Egg Hunt

Next Post

April 28, 2025 Trump's Cuts to Food Pantries are Already Hurting the Poor

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"You're talking about supercessionism, the idea that Christians "replace" the covenant that the Jewish people ..."

Alex

Yes, the Old Testament is About ..."

"Oh I'm sure it did."

Mary

A Televised Execution is a Moral, ..."

"For what its worth, it seems like the whole thing originated from Pete Hegsith speaking ..."

Evil-Striker

A Televised Execution is a Moral, ..."

"You may be right. A war and its aftermath are different than day-to-day governance. Still, ..."

Mary

On Traditionalist Bullies, and the Death ..."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion Abuse Advent America American Christianity angel angels Annunciation Appalachia apparition apparition chaser apparition chasers apparition culture art art review babies baby baby Jesus Bad Lip Reading bad statue contest bath beauty Bible story blog blogkeeping blood book review Brandon Sanderson breastfeeding bus Catholic catholic conspiracy alarmism Catholic Oppositional Disorder Charismatic Renewal Charlie the Cat chastity Christ Christian idenitity Christianity and Judaism Chronic Illness clean clothing COD piece comedy compassion conscience conspiracy theory conversion cop-on-black violence Crucifixion cry of the poor culture Daesh Daily Saints death death penalty devotional diaconate diaper diapers dirty disability Donald Trump Dorothy Day dream drugs Eastern Catholicism Eastern Christianity education election election update Elsewhere on Patheos empathy environment Fear feminism film review fish flashback fluffy buns food Franciscan University of Steubenville Friendship Room fun Gabriel gardening gospel hair-splitting Heaven hell heresy Hillary Clinton history Holly the Witch Holy Spirit holy war Homeschooling homosexuality horror human dignity humor Icon idol immigrants infection inter-religious dialogue Interpretation of Scripture Islam Jesus Jihad Joseph joy laity and lay vocations lamb dinner laundry lent lgbtq literature love manners Mary Medicine and Science Meditation mercy mess milk misogyny Missouri monasticism monster motherhood mourn with those mourn movies movis music mystery nature neurodiversity New Pro-Life Movement news nonsense nostalgia O antiphons obituary objectification Ohio Valley Ordinary Time ordination Ordo Amoris parable paradox Passover peanut butter personal beliefs pets philosophy Planet Charismatic poetry politics polls poop Pope Francis Pope Leo power in the Church prayer prayer request prayers preferential option for non-violence president presidential election priest primary private revelation pro-life prophecy Public face of Catholicism Pure Flix Q and A race racism random rape rape. sexuality reader's request Reckoners refugee religious trauma ressurrection Right to life Saints saints and celebrations same-sex same-sex marriage satire scandal secular feasts seder Seven Joys Seven Last Words sex sexual ethics sexuality silencing six months skid row slavery social justice Speculative fiction spiritual abuse spoon stain story suffering suffrage suffragette Sunday Gospel temple Tenebrae Responsories Terror the exorcist The Friendship Room The New Pro-Life Movement Things I Learned on the Internet tin cup traffic true story tv review Uncategorized USCCB vice and temptation violence Virtue virtue and vice war Way of the Cross whimsy whole life women's ordination work of mercy Year A

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did the Israelites grumble about after crossing the Red Sea?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Lack of water Boredom Too much sun Wild animals