Care for Creation is at heart of Our Lady of Fatima outdoor Mass, pet blessing
By Maggie Parsons
On the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Alcoa invited the faithful from around the diocese to attend an outdoor Mass and take part in the annual pet blessing.
“This is to celebrate the month we have had, to celebrate God’s creation,” said Mary Cawthorn, a longtime parishioner at Our Lady of Fatima and member of the parish’s Care for Creation ministry.
The Care for Creation team is following Pope Francis’ teaching on respecting God’s creation. The Care for Creation ministry meets at Our Lady of Fatima Church on the first and third Thursdays of the month.
The Oct. 4 Mass took place on the last day of the Season of Creation, which begins each year on Sept. 1 and concludes Oct. 4. During the Season of Creation, the global Catholic community of approximately 2.2 billion people joins in prayer from homes, churches, and hosts of special activities.
Pope Francis, who introduced the Season of Creation in 2015, welcomed the 2024 theme, which was “To hope and act with Creation.”
Dogs, cats, and birds receive a blessing from Father Iorio on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Oct. 4. (Photo Maggie Parsons)
“Our pope has printed some pamphlets to the world saying our world is in trouble, and we are morally responsible to take care of it. We are headed into a nasty future if we don’t start doing things differently,” said Jim Holtslag, a member of Our Lady of Fatima’s Care for Creation group. “So, our message is to spread that news to everybody because it seems like a lot of people say it’s not real. It really is real, and we’ve got to get people to believe it.”
The blessing of pets preceded Mass at the outdoor pavilion. Parishioners brought their dogs, cats, and even birds to the celebration.
“We do have a relationship with animals, our pets especially,” said Father Peter Iorio, pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Parish. “You can see that, evidently, by the way people come out. They come out in big numbers with their pets, grateful to receive God’s blessing on their pets, whom they love.”
The Our Lady of Fatima Mass community gathered with their pets while Father Iorio read the blessing aloud and sprinkled each animal with holy water. With the dogs barking loudly and with the blessing being outside, parishioners were reminded of God’s creation and its surrounding presence.
“Pets bring creation home to people; the pets are as close to natural creation as people will get. I think that it is important to let them see that part of creation can be a part of their life,” Ms. Cawthorn remarked.
After Father Iorio blessed the animals, he celebrated Mass in the outdoor pavilion as Mass-goers sat with their pets.
“To praise God through every living thing, [St. Francis] wrote that beautiful canticle of the creatures, and it is just a song of praise from his heart, and I think that’s a teaching that is so beautiful,” Father Iorio said, especially noting how the canticle illustrates how people should praise God and His Son, Jesus Christ, through every living thing.
“Sometimes people don’t know how they are supposed to praise God and honor Him and honor St. Francis’ legacy in their everyday lives. But we should see the good in every living thing as God would want us to and as St. Francis did,” Father Iorio added.
The Mass with a pet blessing is seen as an example of a way to involve creation more in the lives of parishioners and do as God asks. St. Francis’ example is seen as inspiration to future generations who will be celebrating nature and teaching the faithful how to honor God.
“I think we try to see God’s goodness even in the animal, especially in nature and creation,” Father Iorio said. “I think we also honor St. Francis by what Pope Francis has told us to do with taking care of creation and trying to make a better world for future generations.”
For more information on Our Lady of Fatima’s Care of Creation ministry, contact the parish office via ourladyoffatima.org.
To learn more about the Season of Creation, visit seasonofcreation.org.
