Bless all creatures great and small

Dear Diary,

Tuesday is the official feast day of St. Francis but today in church we have the annual blessing of the animals.  St. Andrew's is a "pet friendly" parish and you often see the odd dog sleeping between the pews on a Sunday.  Today the service, in St. Francis's name, will be dedicated to all creatures, great and small.  I've added a photo from last years' service, not mine but so sweet.

Little Hoover is standing tall this morning.  I bless all my little ones everyday as they go about their quiet business of simply living their lives.  They are a constant reminder to me to do the same.  Emerson too.  I wish I could take him to church for his "official" blessing but he hates his carrier and would probably howl which would not be good so I will do my own little blessing of him with the water my friends brought back from Fatima last year.

St. Francis saw the beauty and spiritual completeness in all animals, I do as well.  I have always been this way.  When I was small I found a robin with a broken leg and adopted it.  I even took it to the vet for treatment and paid with my own money.  I'm sure our kindly vet gave me a big discount!  How people treat the smallest and weakest among us, those who can do no good for them, is a truer indication of their character than anything they might say.

Heavenly Father, our human ties with our friends of other species is a wonderful and special gift from You. We now ask You to grant our special animal companions your Fatherly care and healing power to take away any suffering they have.  Give us, their human friends, new understanding of our responsibilities to these creatures of yours.