A little story.

Hello there, folks. I have a little story I want to share with you.

You see, I have this friend. We'll call him ... "Benji." Benji is the second oldest of 4 children in India. Benji's parents have scrimped and saved their entire life so Benji could go to one of the only two medical schools in Bangalore, his hometown. Benji is a smart boy, but he also has to work a fulltime job in order to help cover his medical school loan payments, and so he doesn't always have as much time to study as the other kids.

Now, Benji has finals this week. And frankly, he's kinda worried because he needs to pass all of his classes, and Intro to Molecular Biology 101 has been very difficult for him this semester. So, he decides, like a good Catholic (which he is, by the way), to call up good ol' St. Joseph Cupertino for some last-minute help.

Here's how I envision his conversion went:

Heaven: *ring ring* "Hello, Heaven's switchboard speaking - you've reached the urgent prayer request hotline"
Benji: "Hi there! Man, I'm glad I finally found a representative to talk to... anyway, I was wondering if St. Cupertino was in, see I have this really important exam on thurs..."
Heaven: "I'm sorry, St. Cupertino is busy at the moment."
Benji: *silence*
Heaven: "Can I help you with anything else today?"
Benji: *slightly anxious* "Um, well, I thought he's a saint - how can he be busy?!"
Heaven: "Well, it is finals time around the world you know, and he sometimes has to work through a backlog of prayers - you can understand that."
Benji: *still anxious* "Well, yeah, but ... he's gotta expect that, right? I mean, this isn't the first time the students of the world have needed help!"
Heaven: "You're absolutely right, Benji. But you see, this year has been rather atypical - we've been registering some extreme requests from one of the European countries."
Benji: *slightly angry* "Europe?! But I need help too! Who's hogging the intercessions?!"
Heaven: "Hmm, I don't really know, but I can check for you if it's important to you."
Benji: *still angry* "You bet it's important! This is my life's dream on the line here!!"
Heaven: "Okay, one moment sir."
*3 minute pause on the line*
Heaven: "Sir? are you still with us?"
Benji: *eagerly* "Yeah - I sure am!"
Heaven: "Allrighty, looks like we've had a triple-request ultra-priority 72-hour petition for assistance from a McNally, B. registering at Kartause Maria Thron, Gaming Austria, with a dual-redundant Novena plus the optional "invocation-of-the-Holy-Spirit" special we had this week, and a fail-safe cross-intention-referenced-request to the BVM and SHJ (that's the Sacred Heart of Jesus, by the way - that one's really the clincher)."
Benji: *truly worried* "Oh my ... stars." *silence* "I didn't even know you could stack them like that."
Heaven: "Yep, matter of fact, this one also included a devotional poem (creativity and cross-disciplinary approaches always earn brownie points around here) and she even used an invocation of her guardian angel - and this particular guardian angel is well-known in our deparment for his service above and beyond the call of duty - we'll just leave it at that."
Benji: *sighing* "So, is St. Jude still around?"
Heaven: "You bet, I'll transfer your request now. Have a nice day and please feel free to call again."

...

Poor Benji. There's always vetinary school.