MSI Press Blog

  There is a day on the calendar called Respect Your Cat Day , as if respect were something we might consider offering… once a year… if we remember. Your cat would like to clarify: respect is not seasonal. It is ongoing. Preferably immediate. And ideally delivered with snacks. Respect Is Not the Same as Affection Humans tend to equate love with touch. We scoop, cuddle, kiss, restrain, and call it bonding. Cats have a different definition. Respect, in cat terms, means: Not picking them up when they didn’t ask Not interrupting a nap of obvious importance Not assuming that a belly display is an invitation rather than a philosophical statement Affection may be welcome. But consent is everything. Respect Their “No” Dogs often negotiate. Cats do not. A flicking tail, a rotating ear, a sudden stillness—these are not minor signals. They are full sentences. Ignoring them is the human equivalent of someone continuing a conversation after you’ve clearly walked away. Respecting your c...

  Lent can be a beautiful season of renewal, but for someone who lives with binge eating or a binge‑restrict cycle, it can also feel like a trap disguised as holiness. The Church speaks of fasting, sacrifice, and self‑denial; the disordered mind hears diet culture, control, and the promise of finally “fixing” oneself. It’s a dangerous overlap. Many Catholics give up sweets, snacks, or entire food groups during Lent. For someone with a binge‑eating pattern, that kind of abstinence doesn’t lead to holiness. It leads to the familiar spiral: restrict, white‑knuckle, binge, shame, repeat. One writer described how she used to treat Lent as “yet another diet,” hoping each year that the season would finally force her body into submission. Instead, she gained weight, lost peace, and missed the point entirely. Mental‑health professionals echo the same warning. Lent is a time when unusual food behaviors—skipping meals, avoiding certain foods, pushing through hunger—are socially accepted, ev...