The Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

On October 4th, the Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi, I enjoyed presiding over our first
annual Blessed Sacrament pet blessing. Around 20 dogs and one cat paraded their owners
around in the Douglas Street parish parking lot as ominous clouds threatened to change our
plans and reduce the ritual to the shortened form, i.e., without the readings. I was hoping
that the rain would stay away long enough for us to celebrate the entire blessing, including
the readings from scripture and, of course, my homily. I even had doggy treats ready to share
with the shaggy group. Well, God’s providence prevailed, as it always does, and we were able
to celebrate the pet blessing with scripture, homily and all. Happy day!

Honestly, my interest in the pet blessing was highly motivated by the acquisition of a dog
named Daisy from the Humane Society. If you have been attending Mass at B.S. over the
past several months there is no doubt that you have heard me mention the name of Daisy.
Daisy is a three-and-a-half year old Dalmatian and Australian Cattle Dog mix. She used
to be the only dog living at the rectory with Fr. Green and myself until Fr. Green acquired
Hobbes, a purebred lab. Hobbes has been nick-named “Chaos”. Need I say anymore?
We all know that St. Francis of Assisi had a great solicitude for the entirety of God’s
creation. " is was one of the reasons that Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio chose the name Pope
Francis I on the evening of his election as the 266th Pope, or has he refers to himself, the
Bishop of Rome. In Pope Francis’ homily for the Mass beginning his Petrine ministry he
stated, “It means protecting all creation, the beauty of the created world, as the Book of Genesis
tells us and as Saint Francis of Assisi showed us. It means respecting each of God’s creatures and
respecting the environment in which we live.”

The ritual blessing for pets includes several scripture readings about God’s creatures and
their place in this world. In my homily I referenced the Catechism of the Catholic Church,
which speaks beautifully of the relation of animals to human beings. The catechism states,
“Animals are God’s creatures. He surrounds them with his providential care. By their mere 
existence they bless him and give him glory. Thus men owe them kindness. We should recall the 
gentleness with which saints like St. Francis of Assisi or St. Philip Neri treated animals” (CCC,
2416).

The word that caught my attention from the catechism was “kind.” Because animals are
created by God and give glory to God by their mere existence, we owe them kindness.
Although we certainly embrace a hierarchy of life and being, kindness must be a primary
virtue in our stewardship way of life. " is is certainly a challenge in what Pope Francis calls
a “throwaway culture.” Based upon God’s command to give dominion over the entirety of
creation, e.g., you might say that kindness is the cardinal virtue of a Christian steward.
I hope to see you and your pet at next year’s pet blessing on the Memorial of St. Francis of
Assisi. Daisy will be ready to greet you.

Ad majorem Dei gloriam,
Fr. John Francis Jirak