Blessing of animals brings hope of unity to troubled Baltimore area

Published: 2007-10-05

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- In a Baltimore neighborhood not always associated with peace and harmony, Catholic school students opened the doors of St. Ambrose Church Oct. 4 to find area residents eager to have their household pets blessed. Though area resident Tyra Holland is neither a parishioner of St. Ambrose nor Catholic, she did want her beloved 3-month-old German shepherd puppy, Maximus, to receive a blessing from Capuchin Franciscan Father Paul Zaborowski, pastor of the church. "There's a lot of uncertainly in this world and lord knows there's a lot of uncertainty in (the Baltimore neighborhood of) Park Heights," Holland said. "I didn't know the church blessed the animals, but I'm sure glad they did this today. I'll be back when they do it again next year." The annual blessing of the animals' service is particularly poignant in this northwest Baltimore neighborhood that has been plagued with poverty, violence, crime and murder, Father Zaborowski said. By including the children of the St. Ambrose Catholic School in the blessing outside after Mass, he wanted to demonstrate the caring and protective feelings people have for pets and spread that mind-set throughout the community. "In this neighborhood, people often get dogs for protection and don't always treat them with the love and compassion they should," Father Zaborowski said. "We're hoping that by being this visible, we can breed civility, and perhaps do some evangelization in the process."

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