A Convert

Back when Catholics could not eat meat on any Friday, an atheist lived in a Catholic neighborhood. Every Friday night, the athiest would cook a steak on his barbecue. The smell of the barbecue drove the Catholics nuts.

So they decided to convince the athiest that if he lived in a Catholic neighborhood, he had to live as a Catholic. Just to stop him from cooking steaks on Friday.

When the athiest seemed to agree, the neighbors were relieved. They even sprinkled holy water on him and said, "Born an athiest. Raised an athiest. Now a Catholic."

So the next Friday night, the Catholics were astounded to smell steak being cooked from the athiest's yard. They rushed over to confront him about his new dietary obligations when they found him sprinkling holy water over his steak and saying, "Born a cow. Raised a cow. Now a fish."

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Sacramentals are sacred signs instituted by the Church. They prepare men to receive the fruit of the sacrements and sanctify different circumstances of life. (Catholic Catechism Par. 1677)

Among sacramentals, blessings (of persons, meals, objects and places) come first. Every blessing praises God and prays for his gifts. In Christ, Christians are blessed by God the Father "with every spiritual blessing." This is why the Church imparts blessings by invoking the name of Jesus, usually while making the holy sign of the cross of Christ. (Catholic Catechism Par. 1671)