By Fr. Justin Fulton
My first pets growing up were named Thunder and Lightning. They were hamsters. Thunder and Lightning taught the Fulton kids a lot about life. They taught us the need to be cleanly. They taught us that cleaning up living spaces could be hard work—especially hamster cages. They taught us it never does any good to keep people up in the wee hours of night—that hamster wheel churning still makes noise in my mind to this day. And they taught us we all have to say goodbye at some point. Thunder and Lightning both now reside about a foot underground near the clothesline at the ol’ homestead in Auburn. Thunder and Lightning gave us a lot of laughs, a lot of memories, and taught us a lot of responsibility. Pets do that. Pets give us joy.
God’s first words to man were “Be fertile and multiply. Fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth.” Everything God created was given to man to care for and to use for the glory of God and the buildup of His Kingdom. Animals were given to man so we could subdue the earth and have joy. Our pets were gifted to us from God so we could learn responsibility, life lessons, and experience joy. Animals are not equal to humans and they are not created in the image and likeness of God. Many people seem to equate animals on par with humans—they are not. However, we still recognize the gift that animals are to us as God’s creation.
St. Francis of Assisi understood this teaching and loved animals. The Church celebrates his feast day Oct. 4. CSS in Lincoln will celebrate the gift pets are to us as we hold a pet blessing at our St. Joseph Center parking lot at 22nd and O streets in Lincoln at 4 p.m. We will honor God’s marvelous work in all of His creation. We will recognize that all of God’s creation rightly gives Him praise. And we will ask God to bless the animals that come into our homes to give us companionship, laughter, joy, and help teach us life lessons and responsibility.
The Order for the Blessing of Animals states beautifully: O God, the author and giver of every gift, animals also are part of the way you provide help for our needs and labors. We pray, through the intercession of St. Francis of Assisi, that you will make available for our use the things we need to maintain a decent human life. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Spread the word to any and all, and bring your pets to the parking lot at 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4 for the blessing. Of course, clean up after your pets (even your hamsters!) and maybe stop into Gianna’s and get some gelato too.
May we celebrate the gift of creation and live life greatly! May God bless us all.
