On this coming Tuesday afternoon, we will be celebrating our annual Blessing of the Animals. We always try to schedule it around the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi which is October 4, because of his great love of animals. Every year we see many dogs and cats but also many other varieties of pets, even stuffed animals! It is a day when we celebrate all of God’ creatures and the ways they enrich our lives.
Today’s first reading from Genesis is a rather appropriate reading as we prepare for this animal blessing. In that reading we hear about God creating the universe and all the creatures that inhabit it. It tells us that God formed all the wild animals and various birds of the air. But of course the culmination of God’s creation was the formation of men and women, made in God’s image, whom He put in charge of all the universe and all the animals and birds of the air.
This reading from the very beginning of the Bible, clearly shows us that God is creator. But through the centuries, we have come to realize that God’s creativity did not end there. God is always creative in the ways HE speaks His word to us and the ways in which He makes His presence known in our lives.
And because we are made in his image and likeness, we too share in His creativity. The most obvious way God has chosen to share that with us is through our procreative abilities – creating new life. And that theme of marriage runs through but the first and the gospel reading today.
That however is not the limits to our creative powers. WE often speak of people in the creative arts – people who have special talents in painting or music and even theatre. But we are all involved in creative every day. Simple things like knitting and crocheting, or cooking, gardening, and decorating our homes. But we also can be creative in the ways we love one another, the ways in which we reach beyond ourselves to help other; creative in the ways in which we care for our families, and yes, even our pets.
It is really important for us to be aware every day that being created by God means that He continues to bring His life and His love into our world through each of us even today. May we always recognize the great privilege it is to be made in the image and likeness of our God.