Sermon for the 2nd of October, 2022, Pet Blessing Service

First let me introduce you to Daphne. She is a dog influencer (now known as a

dinfluencer), she has in excess of 16,000 followers – one of whom has flown all

the way from the United States to be with us today. I had hoped that I could

persuade Daphne to share her canine thoughts with us but she is a rather

private dog and, it turns out, a tiny bit shy, so I’m afraid you have me instead.

Now I could say that the dog ate my sermon but that wouldn’t be true so…

First, I am assuming that you are all dog-, cat- or animal-lovers of some kind –

otherwise you wouldn’t be here, but let me assure that not everyone shares

our affection for our fellow creatures and, I must admit that one year at this

very service when I met a young girl with a Tupperware box my undiluted

affection for all living things was also slightly tested. ‘What have you got in

there?’ I asked. ‘An Oriental cockroach,’ she replied brightly. ‘Well, I do hope

that it stays in there with the lid on,’ I replied and, luckily, it did and her pet

insect and its box were duly blessed.

But to resume not everyone understands this love we have for our pets and, as

for a address or reflection on the subject, there are those who disapprove of it

and see the whole event as soppy, sentimental or even heretical! Well, all I can

say to them is they don’t know what they’re missing. Have they no hearts?

So, why are we and our animal friends gathered here today?

Surely it is to celebrate their beauty and charm and other fine attributes, such

as their loyalty, or their independence, their elegance or their rufytuftyness…

Then to express our gratitude, to say thank you for all the things they teach us,

especially how to enjoy, or endure, our lives.

Our pets are our companions and friends, and they pick up on our feelings. In

fact, I would say that often their emotional intelligence far outshines our own

– ‘it’s as if they understand every word we say’ – and perhaps they do. Once

when I was sad and in floods of tears, a friend’s tabby cat came and sat on my

lap and licked my face. ‘Oh,’ said a cynical friend, ‘she just wanted to taste the

salt.’ But I wasn’t so sure, I think I think she was simply sympathetic.

I have to admit that without the presence of one particular dog (sorry if some

of you may have heard this story before) I might not have been standing here

today. That dog was Zoe, Fr James’ large Irish wolfhound/lurcher, who I found

sitting in my pew when I returned from receiving Eucharist for the first time. As

I sat down, I turned to find a large wet, black nose an inch away from mine and

that made me want to sit and stay. Then there were other clergy dogs: Fr Neil’s

fine furry friend Asar and Fr Peter’s dogs, and then, of course, there is Daphne,

who belongs to my fellow Church warden, Kate. So, we are a very doggy

church, but cat-lovers need not feel left out as, since the holy hound Zoe died,

Fr James and his family have acquired two fine tabby cats, one of whom (Leo)

is here with Clare tonight. Other members of our congregation have adopted

abandoned or unwanted pets, or given homes to orphan or ‘refugee’ dogs.

A man much wiser than I once advised that if we want to love and care for one

another, we might first practise on plants, then move on to animals, before we

lavish our love on humans – personally, I’m still dealing with some over

exuberant papyrus plants in my kitchen…

We know that care dogs, cats and even horses are sometimes taken into

homes, hospitals and hospices and that their presence can lift the spirits of the

patients. Stroking or patting these four-legged friends can lower blood

pressure and have other beneficial effects on our health – even, allegedly,

adding a few years to your life.

In the Bible there are 41 mentions of dogs – hardly any of them complimentary

so I’m not going to quote them – and there is not one refence to a cat. Could it

be because of the Ancient Egyptians’ reverence for the feline species? No one

knows for sure.

But I did find a rather obscure dog-headed saint… in a few Eastern Orthodox

icons St Christopher is depicted with the head of a dog. Why? Well, this is due,

as is often the case, to a linguistic misunderstanding. Christopher, reputedly a

giant of a man standing over seven feet tall, was a Canaanite. Which in Latin is

Cananeus. Change just one letter and you get Canineus, or Caninite, which

means ‘dog-man’. Some medieval travellers to far-off lands even claimed to

have met Cynocephali, or dog-men. Marco Polo said he had come across them

on the Angamanian, or Andaman, Islands, and that they would eat anyone who

was not of their tribe.

But I have strayed on to wilder shores far from our beloved family pets– be

they cats or dogs or… cockroaches. What can our domesticated companions

teach us, just by being themselves?

Dogs:

Loyalty, faithfulness, even bravery and especially how to enjoy life and take

exercise joyfully – even if we don’t want to go out for walkies on a rainy

evening…

Cats:

Independence, elegance, economy, how to balance using your tail, how to

catch mice and how to play poker – or, at least, how to remain totally

inscrutable…

Oh, and what about the cockroach, what can he teach us? I’m not sure… may

be how to survive?

All living things are part of the beautiful and diverse creation in which we find

ourselves and all God’s creatures can teach us something by example – even if

we cannot speak their language.

Just remember that GOD is DOG backwards and that CAT is… a mystery!

Amen.