Ask Deacon Mike

We celebrated our annual blessing of the Animals this past Sunday. It was a nice afternoon and a lot of folks came with their pets that ranged from your everyday cats and dogs to hermit crabs and lizards. There were young people and old, men and women. The thread that bound them was their love and devotion to the care of their beloved pets.

When I was a little boy the only pet I ever had was two gold fish. My dad named them Pete and Repete. It was not until I was a teenager that we got a dog. Unfortunately, within the first year he died of some sort of dog disease. While I thought it was nice to have a pet, I never really paid much attention to them.

As my children were growing up we had an assortment of dogs and cats, hamsters and other furry critters around the house. It amazed me how attached the kids became to their various pets. Again, that was not my experience. I watched them play and keep their surroundings clean. Letting them to have pets proved to be a good way to teach them responsibility. But most of all, their pets were their companions and friends.

I missed that concept when I was young. As a result my appreciation and affection for animals was not very intense. In fact, I pretty much felt that pets were a nuisance and an annoyance. That was until Barney came around.

We got Barney in the early 1990s. He was a tiny little pup that I could hold in the palm of my hand. As he grew up I began to feel a real affection for him. He died a few years ago at the ripe old age of 16 (human years). About a year prior to his passing my daughter got a Golden Retriever puppy. Sadie came to us just as Barney was declining. Her puppy energy was at times more than Barney could handle. But they got along pretty well.

I had been thinking about doing a blessing of animals for several years. I even spoke to Fr. Scarcia about it and he said if I wanted to do it then it would be fine with him. I was happy when Fr. Roncase suggested we do it the first year he was here. For the past four or five years we have blessed our pets on the Sunday closest to the feast of St. Francis of Assi.

I have developed a greater appreciation for our pets as I go around blessing them. I know they are precious to their owners. Pets are so loyal and expect so little in return. From watching people and their pets I realize that all of us have a need to love. Pets are easy to love. They don’t disappoint us. I know one lady who has a dog that was her daughter’s before she passed away. That dog is both a companion to this lady and a connection to the child she misses so much.

I sometimes wonder why can’t we love each other as much we love our pets? I am surprised that some people would rather be around their pet than other people. I hear comments like “my pet does not lie to me.” “A dog never disappoints me.” I believe that God gave us our pets to be our companions and objects of our affections. But if we would rather care for a pet than care for another human being then something is wrong.

As I have had the privilege to bless your pets I have slowly changed my feelings towards them. I see how much they mean to people and for so many different reasons. I am more aware than ever just what a gift they are to us. They make us laugh. They are always happy to see us. But most of all they trust us. Let us thank our loving God for these wonderful gifts. May your pet bring you many years of happiness and comfort.

If you have any questions about our Catholic Church, the sacraments or any other religious matter I invite you to send them to me. You can place your question in the collection basket or send it to the rectory. Just make sure you mark the envelope “Ask Deacon Mike”. You can also send me an e-mail at deaconmikefranks@verizon.net. I will always keep your identity anonymous. God bless you and please know that I love you all. Deacon Mike Franks.