Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Why Bless Animals??

From the Catholic Church website

In the Scriptures, the act of blessing means 'the imparting of power or life.' The person performing the blessing is mediating that power from God or Christ to the person performing or the animal involved. To bless is more than an expression of goodwill and caring. To bless is to impart God's power in person! The blessing of each animal, by name, means that health, healing and life are being mediated from God for the benefit of the animal in its relationship with its human partners. Be careful not to reinforce the separation of human animals and other animals by this blessing. Instead, consider reinforcing our common kinship by blessing ALL animals--human and otherwise.

Genesis tells us that God created everything.  Every animal, every plant and every bit of soil was thought of and planned by and amazing artist God.  We are a part of an intricate fabric of life that God has made -- and called each part good.  God loves creation and so we too, made in the image of God, should love and care for creation with the passion of the Creator.  

Our pets are a connection that we make to nature, they are a bit of the wild in our homes.  They connect us to all the other creatures God made and teach us compassion for animal-kind.  A blessing of the animals service does several things
1. The service reminds us who the real master of all creation is - GOD - and gives us the opportunity to praise God for all creation
2.  We remember our role as caretakers of creation and reaffirm our commitment to caring for the earth.
3. We thank God for the animals in our lives and ask God to bless them with health and well-being

Hope you will join us for our blessing of the animals service at the Lakeside service this coming Sunday at 7:30 AM at the RR trestle

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