St. Francis might approve

The headline says “Church offers worship service for dogs“.

Some people might reflexively reject all such thinking as New Age twaddle (and it well could be). After all, it’s an ontological impossibility that Fido would need or be able to engage in rational liturgical worship that is designed and built to mediate grace to fallen homo sapiens, not unfallen dogs or goldfish. But it is not an ontological impossibility for Fido to give praise and glory to God. That’s why the psalmist says:

Praise him, sun and moon,
praise him, all you shining stars!
Praise him, you highest heavens,
and you waters above the heavens!
Let them praise the name of the LORD!
For he commanded and they were created.
And he established them for ever and ever;
he fixed their bounds which cannot be passed.
Praise the LORD from the earth,
you sea monsters and all deeps,
fire and hail, snow and frost,
stormy wind fulfilling his command!
Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars!
Beasts and all cattle,
creeping things and flying birds!

It’s not that human praise God and nature does not. It’s that humans praise him according to their nature as rational animals and dogs and all non-rational creatures worship him simply by being what they are.

Happily, upon investigation, the article reveals that the service is not actually “for dogs” but for humans who happen to like dogs and pets a lot. Nothing especially wrong that I can see about Man the Priest bringing his pet critter before the Lord in praise and thanksgiving if that’s what he wants to do.

All the same, I’d just as soon not and I’m glad this has not caught on, even in Franciscan churches. At least not *too* much.