A Sermon for the Feast of St. Francis
and the Blessing of the Animals
The Rev. Pat Gillespie

St. Francis of Assisi is perhaps the most popular and the least understood of all Christian saints. We usually think of him as the hippie, flower child, nature freak. We may recall his beautiful Canticle to the Sun and think of Brother Sun, Sister Moon, and Brother Dog. We have statues of him surrounded by woodland creatures and preaching to the birds.

And, yes,' Francis does identify himself as brother to all creation, most especially as brother of the poor & defenseless, the "little ones" of God's creation. But Francis was not made a saint for being a kind of holy Dr. Doolittle and talking to the animals. Francis is a saint because of his radical identification with the humility and suffering of Christ.

Francis lived a radical equality with those who had what society understood as less. He gave away his not insignificant inheritance, to be equal with the poor. He kissed lepers, to be equal with the sick. Once he even discarded his clothing -- and that without the furry resources of Sister Bear or Brother Deer. Like Christ he cared for others by really being with them and serving them.

For Francis, to be Christlike was to care for God's creation, to be united with God's creation in radical equality. Often when we want to be "God like" we mean we want to be powerful, to control God's creation, to be "the boss." And after all, we have been told in Genesis that we are to have "dominion" -- that is "lordship" -- over all creation. But it's this kind of trying to be like God that got us into trouble. That's what got us thrown out of paradise.

It's we humans, not the animals, who need blessing. Humans, not animals, try to be something other than what God made us to be. And that's the beginning of sin. Humans, not animals, need sins forgiven. Animals, even when they are "bad," are just doing what God created them to do. My cat teases my hamster, my beagle raids the garbage can, a wolf steals a sheep: They aren't sinning, God created them for just those things.

But we aren't satisfied being "just what we are." We want to be like God. And, in fact, God made us that way -- we're told we were created in God's own image. But when God told us to "have dominion over" all creation, we misunderstood: We thought we could "lord it over" all creation. We thought that meant to boss creation around however we pleased, and use God's creation however it suited us.

What Jesus came to show us, and Francis came to remind us, is that the way back into the Garden -- that place where creation is as God wants it to be -- and the way really to be like God is to be like Jesus: to come not as a great ruler but as a servant, as a brother or sister to those for whom we are asked to care This is what makes Jesus "Lord." This is true lordship and dominion.

We are to care for Brother Cat not by ordering him around or controlling him, but by seeing that he is able to live his life just as God created him to live it. We are to care for Sister Earth not by devouring her resources but by maintaining her fragile balance so that all God's creation can live.

It is then that we living our lives as God created us to be, as images of God caring for our brothers and sisters, who were, like us, created by God. It is then that we are living in Christlike humility as servants of creation. And it is then that Brother Cat and Sister Hamster Sister Maple and Brother River bless us in the name of God who created us all.

Return to The Living Waters Main Page
Go to The Living Waters Sermon Index