Creation Matters - Animals Matter - Dogs Matter

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." Martin Luther King, Jr.

Chimp Haven

Whether born in Africa or born in a cage, each of the chimps at Chimp Haven, located near Shreveport, Louisiana, has spent decades in medical labs. Each has contributed to the understanding of polio, Hepatitis and HIV. They've done their job. Now they are free and they are home.

Read about this wonderful and interesting facility, located near Shreveport, Louisiana, on their website at: http://www.chimphaven.org/. Also, read the article by Angela Hill, WWL TV in New Orleans about her visit to this facility. Her article and a video are here: http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/wwl042808mlchimp.acb61205.html

Prayer for Animals

Hear our humble prayer, O God, for our friends the animals, especially for animals who are suffering; for animals that are overworked, underfed and cruelly treated; for all wistful creatures in captivity that beat their wings against bars; for any that are hunted or lost or deserted or frightened or hungry; for all that must be put death. We entreat for them all Thy mercy and pity, and for those who deal with them we ask a heart of compassion and gentle hands and kindly words. Make us, ourselves, to be true friends to animals, and so to share the blessings of the merciful. (Albert Schweitzer)

Animals are God's Creatures

"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. "

* * * * *

"It is contrary to human dignity
to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly."

Source: Seventh Commandment, Catechism of the Catholic Church

Poppy's Mom

I am a Catholic and a member of the Secular Franciscan Order. It is from this perspective that I will write here about our beloved Maltese dogs and other related subjects.

As a Secular Franciscan, I have promised "to live all the days of my life the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Secular Franciscan Order by observing its rule of life." Article 18 of our Rule states:

• "Moreover they should respect all creatures, animate and inanimate, which bear the imprint of the Most High, and they should strive to move from the temptation of exploiting creation to the Franciscan concept of universal kinship."

Everyone is familiar with the little man standing behind the bird bath - that fellow known as St. Francis. There is more to St. Francis in his relationship with animals and all of creation than this nice garden decoration. This point will be developed through other posts from time to time.

To bond with a dog is to know joy, laughter, affection unlimited, touch, love, the end of loneliness and always forgiveness. Always forgiveness. To share life on this level with one of God's creatures is, for some, the beginning of understanding of God himself. For all these things and more, I give thanks for Poppy and the day he came to live with us.