Onyx and Pearl

 I have heard the Ascension Gospel every year but this year it struck me Jesus says: “Preach the Gospel to every creature.” That’s right not just all people but ALL CREATURES. I suppose preaching the Gospel can be not just by telling the steers “Jesus loves you” but by caring well for them.

 As the weekend came to a close, I wondered if our cow Onyx was really going to have a calf and when would it be. I sure knew I was not equipped to handle the process. And so Monday came… and went. Onyx started to waddle more as she walked, and at night, I would say a prayer that Jesus would just handle the whole thing. After all it is His pasture and His cows. He is the Good Shepherd, right? The Gospels do recount His stories about being Shepherd of the sheep, but hey I’m sure He knew a thing or two about the cows. He is the Creator.  I only know how to milk them, and only once as a child got talked into being put on the “gentlest” of them only to be dropped off in a gallop after about 50 feet, in one piece thank God.

Tuesday came and went. My prayer had not changed.

Wednesday morning Our Lady help of Christians: at 6:45 am the gong rang 3 times, and then 3 times again now a little more frantically. 3 rings on the gong is a signal for the infirmarian sister to come. And so I quickly walked over. Mother Subprioress said the “THE COW HAS CALVED THE COW HAS CALVED!!” and that I was to go out to the field.

Thank God for Charlie, our extern who was already out there and handling “the situation.” And Cindy who came in to help.

I was asked to get the stall ready as Charlie went out to get the calf to bring her to the stall. According to his calculations the calf was about an hour old. Mother nature, or mother Onyx, took care of it all by herself. PHEW thank God, and Our Lady help of Christians! The Steers were in the runway looking a bit dumbfounded, (wondering why they weren’t being let into their stall which I just prepared for mom and baby), Onyx was running about the field very proudly, and all the while I was running circles between the field and the barn trying to decide what else should be done. Should I get another water trough ready? Oh, wait its too low if the calf falls in she’ll drown.

I was finally asked to get the mom in the stall and the steers out of the runway.  It was like a rodeo having all three steers running in circles; but Onyx just looked around anxiously from time to time to see where her baby was.

The trick I learned is that if I get the red can I bring their food in, they instantaneously follow me wherever I go.  And so they all did, but we only let Onyx in and the baby was already in the stall.

I named the calf PEARL. She looked just like her mommy: black and white, with a bow- like mark on her head and the longest eyelashes I have ever seen.

Now I just had to watch that the calf gets up to eat.

Our Lady Help of Christians, pray for us!