Drafted around Fall 2023 but didn't press the publish button until now:
During police chaplain academy training, one of my assignments was to compose a prayer for a K9.
(K9 is a military/police dog.)
I thought of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals.
My respect for animals grew through Chester and K9s I have met and blessed.
Here is a prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi.
Make Me An Instrument of Thy Peace
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy Peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning, that we are pardoned.
And it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
—St. Francis of Assisi (Patron Saint of Animals)
St. Francis of Assisi was a lover of creation, a stigmatist who had the wounds of Jesus, reached out a hand of friendship to the Muslim world, founded the Franciscan Order, and St. Francis of Assists was a permanent deacon.
When I studied St. Thomas Aquinas in college, I remember reading somewhere that Aquinas said we can take the memory of animals into Heaven. He didn't rule out God restoring animals somehow in Heaven. Jimmy Akin and Peter Kreeft also state that God could include animals in Heaven in some way.
I think this is so because they help us grow in virtue and care of creation, just like the Creator in whose image and likeness we human beings are made.
God himself will fulfill and exceed the joys of every resurrected person in Heaven.
The Catechism also talks about caring for animals and even minimizing their suffering. So, yes, then in a very real sense our experience with animals in this life is somehow carried with us on to the next life.
Many parishes and schools have a Blessing of Animals Prayer on Oct. 4, the Feast of St. Francis, so here is a blessing prayer for Chester and his owners.
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