‘For the joy & happiness they bring us’: Pets blessed at The Mount

| Pets | West Seattle news | West Seattle religion

Patty from Highland Park came to the Blessing of the Animals at Providence Mount St. Vincent this morning with her five furry friends, two of whom are regular volunteers at The Mount. They mingled with, and sometimes barked at, more than a dozen other dogs, till Father Lyle began the blessing:

After a prayer and reading paying tribute to pets “for the joy and happiness they bring us,” the Redemptorist priest led a procession through the building – first scheduled stop, the second-floor fish tank – to bless animals that hadn’t been brought down to the lobby. The ceremony is a tradition on or near the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi – which is coming up Monday – and there will be two others in West Seattle tomorrow, at Alki UCC (6112 SW Hinds) during 10 am service and outside St. John the Baptist Church (3050 California SW) at noon.

Truth Out - Get Some Truth October 2, 2010 (7:11 pm)

I know I’ll get some serious push back from this and be accused of going way off topic, but I just have to point out: churches are tax free entities who also rely on “first fruits” tithing for their money (sort of a voluntary tax).

I am pointing this out because I hear nothing but whining about government waste and taxes all over this blog and everywhere else right now. And the things getting cut are usually vital social services like kids getting access to health care and people getting unemployment benefits and public safety services and public schools and libraries.

And yet, using time, resources and a tax free building for blessing pets is so “cute” how could anyone have a problem with that, right?

I get that it is a free country, that the church is it’s own entity and I am very much an animal lover. If you got your pet blessed at this event, fine.

I just wish more people could see the hypocrisy here and ask some serious questions about how we decide to use our resources.

Vanessa October 2, 2010 (8:02 pm)

This was an event in a nursing home for Christ’s sake, actually for St.Francis’s sake. You must not know who that saint was. I seriously don’t get your point. Why should you care what people do in their churches, nursing homes or in the honor of St. Francis, with and for their pets? I suggest you talk a long walk in some fresh air, come back with a fresh head and work on something that is a serious issue who could use your attention.Go get on some political forum and get some Truth Out there. I am saying this in kindness towards you…….

JanS October 2, 2010 (9:59 pm)

Truth Out….Using resources wrong? It used a little bit of time…the building was already there. It cost me nothing for those people to have their pets blessed, if that’s what they wanted. I’m pretty much in agreement with Vanessa. I’m not quite sure I understand the “gripe” here.Maybe I’m obtuse, but I don’t see any hypocrisy – maybe you could elucidate?

hmmmm October 2, 2010 (10:01 pm)

why does one get their pets blessed? if it stops bad behavior (ie: barking, chewing etc) I should have gone with my dog! (LOL)

WSB October 2, 2010 (10:20 pm)

The headline says it all. That’s why.
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To an earlier point, regarding churches’ nonprofit status – note that I am not advocating for it nor do I have information to analyze on a church-by-church basis – one thing worth keeping in mind, which I have seen in 30 years of journalism. Many (certainly not all) churches are accountable for a massive amount of volunteer work. Here in West Seattle, for just one example, something like a dozen congregations – all over the faith map – made the currently-on-hiatus Family Promise of Seattle shelter work, offering a place for homeless families to stay together, by lending their space for sleeping quarters, and organizing congregation members to provide meals for the families staying in the shelter.
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We find ourselves covering church activities like that a lot because frankly speaking, there aren’t nearly as many secular organizations doing similar volunteer community work. We also cover neighborhood councils and other organizations, but while most of them draw a dozen or two to a monthly meeting, a church usually has triple-digit attendance on a weekly basis. For every event we’ve spotlighted here, I know from checking church websites (as well as other organizations) for our events calendar, that there are many more never announced, quiet acts of volunteerism and stewardship, from forest restoration to food-bank shifts. If you want to tally up tax impact, be sure to figure in the value of all the volunteer work – without which many of the social-service agencies, even before this age of revenue loss and resulting budget cuts, could not function at all.
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Tomorrow there are two more Blessing of the Animals events in West Seattle. After one of them – during a service at Alki UCC (a building shared also with the local synagogue Kol HaNeshamah and the site of many meetings including the monthly Alki Community Council) – there’s the annual Seattle CROP Hunger Walk, to raise money to fight hunger. Nonprofits are tax-deductible whether they are secular or not; if you want to start a secular organization to do some of this work, more power to you, and please let us know about your events so we can cover them too! – TR

Sonoma October 2, 2010 (10:46 pm)

Lovely, heartwarming, and very cute story, regardless of your religious or nonreligious beliefs. And a well-reasoned response, Vanessa – thank you! And blessings to Patty and her dogs for volunteering to bring cheer to the elderly.

By the way, “Truth Out,” please learn the difference between “its” and “it’s.” “It’s” is simply a contraction for “it is.” Thus, “is it’s own entity” is incorrect. (I wonder if they bless trolls, too.)

count your blessings October 2, 2010 (10:55 pm)

The truth has been revealed! A handful of people brought their leashed, well behaved animals to a nursing home for a walk amongst the residents! The value of the blessing is in the heart of the participants. I attended this event because it celebrates the value of life, other than human, in our society and it is an easy way to bring a smile to residents at the mount. If taking a half hour out of my day to visit the elderly with my dog cost the tax payers please consider it an investment in humanity.

enviromaven October 3, 2010 (12:16 am)

Well put, Vanessa! Therapy-dog-in-heaven, Joey, is wagging his tail at you right now :)

nulu October 3, 2010 (9:09 am)

Hej Truth,
Truth to be told.
Seattle may be one of our most godless cities,
but mess with our dog disciples,
& thou shall bear the wrath!

Truth Out - Get Some Truth October 3, 2010 (10:51 am)

Well, that was pretty much as expected I guess.

Some good points were made – I do actually know who St. Francis is and I get the connection to animals. And yes I am well aware of all of the volunteer work and giving back that church communities do. (Of course, they also have a higher power to lean on to get both their contributions and regular attendance than a secular organization does and often make their recipients sit through a sermon just to get a sandwich.) Finally, I get that this was meant to be a ‘feel good’ event and here I am, trying to pop the balloons and stomp all over the party.

As to answer the larger question: why do I even care what people do with their time and resources? Who is it hurting after all? Why don’t I care about more serious issues?
Well, my post was coming from being tired of hearing about how bad “government” is constantly. Every post that mentions anything (1% for arts being used at the new firehouse for instance) someone gets on and starts barking about how their taxes are being used. This event just seemed almost flippant in the face of more serious things, like King County’s financial woes with their animal shelter. If you are really an animal lover, that should concern you. Government is always being held to extremely high standards (as it should be) and yet hardly seems appreciated for the services they do provide and the things they do right. In fact, standing up in defense of government in this country gets you labeled immediately as a big brother loving socialist. Faith based institutions are always “off limits” of any sort of honest discussion about how their time, energy and money is spent – and while some of it is used for a lot of good, admittedly, there is also a lot of waste.

So was this the right post to make this observation? Perhaps it was unfair, it just rubbed me the wrong way. Is it okay to make these observations and ask serious questions of faith-based services? I certainly think so and I wish more people would. I think it is a discussion we need to have in this country.

As for Sonoma – I’ve never been accused of being a “troll” before, and I said in my very first line that I would probably be accused of going off topic. This was honestly what reading this headline made me think of, so I thought I’d throw it out there. As for its and it’s I know the difference, I just typed fast. If this was a dissertation that would be one thing – but a blog? I’m sorry, but IMO it’s (wow lookie there!) the grammar police on social media who REALLY needs a breath of fresh air and to take a chill pill.

brian October 3, 2010 (11:06 am)

My knee jerk reaction to this is, OH PLEASE, how ridiculous. However, no one can prove to you that animals do not poses a soul or spirit of some kind. Churches will one day be empty for worshiping irrational beliefs so we may as well start the ball rolling on using them for other things.

Its the closure and emotional comfort that this type of ritual brings that attract people to it.

MsEvelyn October 3, 2010 (3:06 pm)

Wow. I am almost speechless. Almost! The bottom line for me with the animal blessing at the Mount is that it’s done out of love for pets that make our lives sweeter and help us live longer (and healthier!). It was open to all (not just residents or workers of the Mount.). My husband took our 11 yr old 3 legged Golden Retriever who is a cancer survivor! We figure she needs all the help & blessings she can get, and deserves!

Kayleigh October 4, 2010 (10:58 am)

I love to see religion and other spirituality actually practiced in Seattle, the great unchurched city. More power to the people who worship something other than their toddler, their Prius, or their organic coffee. It’s kinda funny that it’s almost a subversive act to attend church in Seattle.

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