Are There Animals in Heaven?
****This is not the right place if you're expecting great theological insights to this question. I do have my opinion and have discussed it with my pastor. I have also read the opinions of people with far greater minds than mine. Bottom line? We don't know.
****I'm glad the thoughts and hopes of people I admire are similar to mine. Sort of a "great minds" moment. I have few of those so allow me a pass on this one.
****I hold a firm faith that our "guys", as I call my pets, will be with us if we end up in heaven. I absolutely do not believe there is a hell for animals. This gives you another reason to aspire to do the will of God. Little FiFi will not be reunited with you if you don't go to heaven. This means those that do make it will have to set up some sort of heavenly Humane Society to find new owners for the abandoned pets. I'm thinking we (I have high hopes!), may have better things to do in heaven, so behave yourself!
*
*By the edge of a woods, at the foot of a hill,
Is a lush, green meadow where time stands still.
Where the friends of man and woman do run,
When their time on earth is over and done.
*
For here, between this world and the next,
Is a place where each beloved creature finds rest.
On this golden land, they wait and they play,
Till the Rainbow Bridge they cross over one day.
*
No more do they suffer, in pain or in sadness,
For here they are whole, their lives filled with gladness.
Their limbs are restored, their health renewed,
Their bodies have healed, with strength imbued.
*
They romp through the grass, without even a care,
Until one day they start, and sniff at the air.
All ears prick forward, eyes dart front and back,
Then all of a sudden, one breaks from the pack.
*
For just at that instant, their eyes have met;
Together again, both person and pet.
So they run to each other, these friends from long past,
The time of their parting is over at last.
*
The sadness they felt while they were apart,
Has turned into joy once more in each heart.
They embrace with a love that will last forever,
And then, side-by-side, they cross over… together.
*
~In Memorium~
Critter December, 2008 ***Siena April 2008
14 comments:
The only problem is that animals do not have immortal souls. And heaven is eternal union with God. Animals were not created for eternal union with Him; we were. It is part of what gives us dignity. (And that is a much larger topic.)
I love my pets dearly, and maybe it saddens me more to lose them, knowing they will not be with me in paradise. But likewise...they won't be in Hell...again, not being immortal creations.
Yet in their lives I'm comforted, because God holds them in existance, gave them life, and gave them to us. Scripture tells us that a sparrow does not fall from the sky without Him knowing.
It's hard, but it's part of His plan of creation. He didn't ask our opinion before He established this hierarchy, so we must trust in His wisdom, that the truth is what is best for our eternal salvation.
Dang. I miss my Fire! And Tina!
Since after the Second Coming and the Resurrection of the Dead there will be a "new Heavens and a new Earth", I don't see why there can't be animals in Heaven. They are part of God's creation now and can be afterwards.
The wonderfully comforting book "A Travel Guide to Heaven", by Anthony DeStefano has an entire chapter (#6) on this question entitled: "Do All Dogs go to Heaven?" The answer is a highly probable "yes", if only because with God all things are possible.
I miss my Tony Cat (198?-2003). And I am grateful for Mr. Onyx (200?-)
Adoro - I think the important words in that post were, "we don't know". The bottom line is that God can do anything He wants to do.
Our souls are immortal but we are pretty sure that animals have a "type" of soul.
Fom the article: Do Animals Have Souls by Deborah Jones
http://www.all-creatures.org/ca/ark-186soul.html
"When Pope John Paul II declared in a public audience in 1990 that 'also the animals possess a soul and men must love and feel solidarity with our smaller brethren' some people must have thought this was a new teaching, unaware of the Holy Father's scholarly familiarity with the authentic Hebrew texts.
When he went on to state that all animals are 'fruit of the creative action of the Holy Spirit and merit respect' and that they are 'as near to God as men are', animal lovers in the audience were ecstatic!"
From Catholic Answers:
1. Catholic teaching doesn't actually deny that animals have souls. And it's stance needs to be clarified, according to:
http://www.all-creatures.org/ca/ark-186soul.html
Pope John Paul II had declared that animals have souls
Paul - Almost six years since Tony Cat left but he lives on in your memory. Blessings on Tony Cat and all your "fur people" (and you and your beautiful wife, too!)
I'm with you, Adrienne. Maybe they don't get to see the "Beatific vision" but as long as we can see them and they can see us that would be wonderful. I can't imagine God making something so wonderful as a Maggiekins and NOT wanting her in heaven too. She was far less selfish than I will ever be! IF only we were the good people our dogs/pets *think* we are, the world would be a lot better place!
I guess 1st grade nuns have the best answer to this of all. "You will have *everything* you need in heaven to make you happy."
Ok, here's my take on this question. This is what I believe, although not with certainty -- it is just my best guess on the answer, so I don't claim any authority for this aside from my own reasoning. First, animals do not have immortal souls, and therefore do not by nature have the capacity for an afterlife. No hell or heaven or purgatory or limbo (if limbo does in fact exist) for animals.
Second, each human does have an afterlife. We have immortal souls. For the souls of the just who are in heaven, they experience the beatific vision. As part of this vision, their every hope and godly desire is fulfilled. They have no sadness and no sense of loss or lack of any thing.
Third, for a just soul in heaven, if that just soul wishes to be reunited with a beloved pet, I suspect that God would bring the pet back to be reunited with the just soul. So, the animal does not have an afterlife as part of its nature, but it may, if it is part of the godly desire of just soul.
Again, this is pure speculation on my part, and I can claim no basis for this in scripture or the teaching of the Church.
My confessor, back in May after my beloved 18 year old Persian had to be put down, thought that since God is love, and he gave us these animals to love and to live with us, it was not out of the realm of possibility for God to find room for them in heaven. They were created by Him to love and comfort us, and God would not creat something without a reason or purpose.
This was such a sweet poem.
I hope one day I'll see my pets again, especially the pets of my childhood, my early marriage and even my friends pets!
This was a darling poem. And, I know that some people say that pets don't go to heaven, but others say if it makes it heaven to you they will be there. BTW even Christ talked about the Lion and the lamb resting together. And, I don't care if it was symbolic, if he said it maybe we could take him literally.
But, I do tell my children that THIS is the only Heaven animals have that we can be sure of so we must be kind to them. This makes my oldest a little put out with foolish and lazy animal owners.
God Bless you Adrienne! I so loved the visit today as always.
Rainbow bridge always makes me cry, but it is comforting, too. We lost our wonderful black lab around Thanksgiving time a few years ago, and my heart still aches for him sometimes. Thanks for the post, Adrienne, and thanks for visiting my blog.
My understanding is real simple. We're going to be in Union with God, will anything else matter?
Thanks for remembering Siena.
I've posted on this topic on my own blog. One point I often ponder is why God would create these creatures and then have some of them only know abuse and suffering...and then they die?? I feel God wouldn't do that unless they find some type of peace and why not heaven?
Bottom line I agree is that we don't know but I'm betting there is though and I'm looking forward to seeing my Chuchu, Twiggy, Brownie, Puss, etc., etc., etc. one day...and oh yeah, Kitty my skumk :-)
I read no one else's comments because I know the answer ;) Yes - we will find our pets in God... we will find and see them in God when we enter into the Beatific Vision. We will be completely satisfied - no one knows what that means exactly however - which is probably why St. Thomas stopped writing...
My cats - all of them - are saints of course.
Signed,
Mr. Know-it-all Catholic Simpleton.
Animals do not have immortal souls, but they are a creation of God, and I'm sure since they are His creation--why wouldn't he want them in Heaven? Yes, my puppy Stella IS going to Heaven!!!
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