Dear Friends,
I swear, every day in my house is a song to Saint Francis. Or at least that’s what I hope Ethel’s been singing.
For reference, this wacky little monster is Ethel:
Ethel is a very special gremlin with something of an internet fan club. She’s three years old, weighs about 6.5 pounds, has had seven leg surgeries (three since this past March), and has six or seven metal plates in her back legs. She came to us when she was a few months old as a last ditch attempt to make her fit for adoption – which we did, and then we paid for the privilege of keeping her.
We have cared for 50+ cats and kittens in the last few years and there has never been another one like Ethel.
The funny thing about my house full of cats and my future veterinarian spouse is that I don’t know much about animals, in general. When Ethel started having surgeries on her knees, my wife had to draw a diagram to even explain to me where cats’ knees are. I am obstinate about denying the mammalian status of any animal that lives in the water. I think horses smell bad and are scary. The lowest test score of my childhood hinged on differentiating between reptiles and amphibians in the third grade and that would still be a dicey situation.
But here I am with all the cats and an unusually extensive knowledge of how to support animal-related causes – and I’ll come back to that.
Saint Francis, hear my prayer, because my house is a little bit of a zoo.
The Faces of Saint Francis
Like many children’s ministry professionals, and really many church folks in general, when the Feast of Saint Francis rolls around on October 4th each year, we learn hard on the care for animals piece of his life. And I want to be clear that we aren’t explicitly wrong to do so; for any given saint that we do remember distinctly, we very rarely consider the full scope of their lives and patronage.
My first home parish in the Episcopal Church was named for Saint Bartholomew – and so we remembered his feast day each year, but I couldn’t have told you much about him, and with good reason. He was our parish’s saint, but as the patron saint of bookbinders, dermatologists, and Barva, Costa Rica, he wasn’t exactly the most relevant to us. We would have a church picnic and move on with things.
When it comes to Saint Francis, the patronage list is not just more relatable, but more pressing for our communal lives. In addition to animals and the religious order that shares his name, Saint Francis is a patron saint of ecology, stowaways (more common than you think when you consider migrants and refugees), and, critically, poor people. So why do we only talk about animals? The simplest explanation may be the same one that leads us to tell children the story of Noah’s Ark so often.
Saint Francis & The Noah’s Ark Problem
We like animals. Kids, stereotypically, really like animals.
That’s the crux of the problem. Of course, there are other more nuanced pieces, especially when it comes to the case of Saint Francis, but animals are a touchpoint. I won’t pretend I don’t spend a lot of time talking to my church school kids about pets or accompanying trips to fetch a favorite stuffed cat that lives in my office. Hence, Noah’s Ark (a story of destruction and covenant) and Saint Francis (a figure who cared for all living creatures, including those living in poverty – and who, through his vows, entered into poverty alongside them).
So, the Feast of Saint Francis arrives and we all set to planning blessing of the animals and similar events, but we rarely speak out these other matters. Where are out clothing drives, our extra outreach programs, our talks from nonprofit groups addressing poverty in the community? And where are our park cleanups and visits to nature preserves where we can learn about our region’s unique ecology? These are opportunities that are already well-aligned with what many of our churches do week to week. They don’t, however, present the same lighthearted, playful publicity that inviting parishioners and neighbors to bring their animals to the church lawn does. And it may be that we undercut the potential of this special feast day by not attending more carefully to the ways these different aspects of patronage intersect.
Oh, kids also like rainbows. That’s the other bonus for Noah’s Ark. Saint Francis doesn’t have that going for him, but the abundance of animals seems to make up for it.
Back to the animals and the children, though, both are easy for us to instrumentalize as church communities. We love to show off the children, singing little songs or prodding them through children’s sermons, even when we aren’t particularly concerned about the theological content of those things, or about what children actually need from us. Animals often play similar roles. We don’t bring live animals to participate in the Christmas pageant for the animals’ own good or even out of reverence. We just think it’s fun. It’s a lot harder to instrumentalize other adults, particularly suffering adults, without at least feeling pretty terrible about it (though plenty of folks certainly try).
Weaving Together The Saint Francis Story
Many of our congregations will hold their blessing of the animals this coming Sunday, so you’ve still got a minute to extend the impact of your work to tell Saint Francis’s story more fully. Here are a few ways.
Identify local pet food and supply pantries. There’s a funny concept out of tax law, I believe, that identifies animals as “luxury possessions,” and from the perspective of classism, a lot of us buy into the luxury piece more than is fair or reasonable. After all, most of us talk about our pets as members of our family, and we don’t just leave our family behind when we’re in financial straits. One way to support low-income individuals who are trying to care for their pets is by identifying pet food pantries in your area. You can find a starter list here.
Support emergency vet care funds. Community clinics, private hospitals, and facilities associated with veterinary schools may all have in-house funds to help low-income clients afford critical care. Ask your local hospital or even your community’s animal control center to learn what funding networks exist in your area.
Volunteer as temporary housing. See that little tiny puppy right there? That’s my friend Kira’s dog Luna. Luna is a full-grown girl these days, but this photo from 2.5 years ago, days after when Luna’s mom was staying with Kira through a program called Paws Between Homes, which provides temporary housing for pets whose owners are experiencing a serious life disruption like eviction or a house fire. Luna’s mom has long since been returned to her family and Luna leads a very exciting life with her pack, as documented on Instagram. Many areas have such programs for cats and dogs alike.
These programs all offer powerful ways to support the relationship between people and their pets who are facing difficult circumstances, and they weave together at least two different key pieces of the Saint Francis story, honoring the depth of his message, that:
“If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who deal likewise with their fellow men.
All creatures have the same source as we have. Like us, they derive the life of thought, love, and will from the Creator. Not to hurt our humble brethren is our first duty to them; but to stop there is a complete misapprehension of the intentions of Providence. We have a higher mission. God wishes that we should succour them whenever they require it.”
Let us go deeper into Saint Francis’s story this year, both as adults who share in it and facilitate celebrations of his work, and as we guide children through it. It may be that as we deepen our understanding of Saint Francis’s care for all creatures great and small and the world that they live in, we will also deepen our relationship to other central stories of our faith, too.
We all like animals, sure. But let us be clear-eyed about the stories they lead us to tell and the actions they motivate.
Peace,
Bird