A rather laborious and unfulfilling day (another exercise in nailing jello to the wall) has been redeemed by a good chuckle. George Weigel writes in the October issue of First Things about Milwaukee’s new Archbishop, Timothy Dolan. The Bishop’s reference to “meat-and-potato Catholics” in his first press conference, before his installation, managed to outrage a variety of people for a variety of reasons.

The description of the Catholic Theological Society’s emergency condemnation of Dolan’s “insensitivity to our animal companions,” required more than one reading. I thought it was a joke at first....it read more like something from the Onion.

What touched me the most was a quote from a Fr. Thomas Reach. S.J., who said the meat-and-potoes stess was “ ‘pastorally insensitive,’ given Milwaukee’s ‘longstanding commitment to frozen custard as the signature local dish.’ ” Perhaps the good Bishop was quite ‘pastorally sensitive,’ lest he slip and give tacit endorsement to any one particular purveyor of the sinfully delicious delicacy. Personally, we like Kopps - conveniently located when we are passing thru the Milwaukee area and always with interesting flavors. Even the vanilla is superb. Rich and vanilla-y, not just white, frozen stuff.

We also were very fond of a place called Town Pride on the far north side. (I hope they are still in business........) Town Pride was a notch above Kopps. And their windows had the best neon signs. When we were anticipating Martha’s birth at St. Michael Hospital, just a few blocks away, I hid a $10 bill in my bag so we could pick up some custard if we came home during business hours. Alas, she was born at 11:20 at night. We left the hospital around 3:00am - so no Town Pride.

Now I must prepare for our Respect Life Committee meeting tonight. That is getting to feel like nailing jello to the wall, too.