We now have a little decorative snowman standing near the front desk here at St. Anne’s. As cute as he may look at first glance, don’t let looks deceive you; he can get on your nerves very quickly. (Sr. Rebecca recently put a lot of the Christmas decorations away and brought out snowmen.)

You see, not only does this little snowman stand there and look charming, he also has greetings which he offers at random; he is motion-sensitive but somewhat unpredictable: he does not always respond.

He has a few ‘canned’ greetings, which include: “It’s cold outside!,” “Be our guest and stay a while!,” “Come on in; it’s warm inside,” and “I’m so glad you’re here!”

To just hear the little guy once as a passerby is one thing; I may even concede to calling him cute on a one-time encounter. But, after hearing him, as the receptionist, whenever anyone comes near, for several hours, even the most peaceful among us is ready to strangle the little fellow.

Unable to find any on/off switch, we had subjected him to solitary confinement upon the safe in our back office. That way, the only time he’d speak up is if someone approached that back corner.

Unfortunately, Sr. Rebecca, unaware of the torture he had been putting us through, keeps bringing him back out to his prominent place next to the front desk.

Needless to say, I do not share his sentiments of: “I’m so glad you’re here!”

However, I found myself echoing this corny little phrase, unthinkingly this morning in the quiet of our chapel.

Remembering Christ’s presence in the tabernacle here, I had used these words in prayer: “I’m so glad you’re here!”

Oh, no!!! Now I sound like that obnoxious snowman!