Friday, January 15, 2010

New England Jesuit Novice Mascots: Gumby And Pokey

Gumby and Pokey have been two of the mascots of the novitiate of the Society of Jesus of New England since 1985, and their by-now bent, crumpled plastic representations have been passed down from novice to novice for over 20 years. Gumby even showed up at my ordination, though the Jesuit who brought him did not, as he jokingly threatened, set him face down in the aisle alongside me during the ordination rite.
One common joke is that Gumby and Pokey have stayed in the Jesuits longer than many of the novices have.
On the other hand, they've never made it out of the novitiate. But that's another story.

Link (here) to the Jesuit Fr. James Martin, his full post is located at America's blog, In All Things.

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