“Excuse me bothering you.
I am one of the little fox cubs who live in the garden of Latton Vicarage. I belong to a family of foxes who live safely at the top end of the garden. My mamma died earlier in the summer but papa is still with us.
As you see I am almost fully grown now and this is thanks to my surrogate mama, Auntie Lynn. She looks after us, feeds us and cares about us. She is a loving and kind person and she has taught us gentleness and care for others. I suppose you know that us foxes tend to be a bit self-centred.

What I want to bring to your attention today is about other foxes who have no one to care for them, and not just foxes.

Aunty Lynn has been telling us about the awful things that are happening in the bigger world at the moment. She told us about places called Gaza and Israel and another with a more difficult name – I think it’s called Youkrane.
Lots of terrible things are going on at the moment. Humans are fighting each other. Not in the playful way me and my sisters and brothers do – that’s just fun – but violently and with guns, bombs, missiles, shells which explode. There are so many people injured or killed. Homes are destroyed and many people, including children, old people, vulnerable sick people need lots of attention and love.

But I also want to talk about the animals. Like the children, they are innocent. They’ve done nothing wrong. So many of them are suffering. Many have been completely abandoned. Others have been injured as the bombs have destroyed the places where they live. Some have been buried under the rubble. There is no one to rescue them or animal doctors to make them better. Cats, dogs, donkeys,cattle, sheep, chicken, even some animals I’ve never heard of who lived in a zoo, are facing death and are in pain. They can’t find food, water, warmth.
They don’t know what’s happened to them or why. The humans who cared have too many other troubles to worry about animals. They don’t mean to abandon them. It’s just what happens when human beings fall out of love for each other and fight.

So I’m very grateful that Aunty Lynn loves and cares for others and all of you who care for other animals. We don’t always say, ‘thank you’, but we are lucky, especially when we think about other animals much worse off than ourselves.

Please think about the animals suffering in the places of war. Please pray for them.”

Lord God,
you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power.
You created all things for your glory,
yet there are those in your Creation who languish in pain and suffering.

Among them, we pray for all animals who have been abandoned
and who have lost security and shelter.
We pray for those without food and who are thirsty in places
where there is no water.
We pray for the animals injured by bombing, shrapnel or fallen buildings;
for those who are trapped and are dying in the rubble.

In the trauma of war and violence, stretch out your loving hands
and bless all animals in need today,
whether wild, in captivity, on the streets, lonely and afraid.
Please bless also, all who had to abandon their pets as they too fled from safety.
The hardest decisions may be small in the face of terrible violence
but hearts will have been be broken.
Please be with all who are missing their pets and grieving for them.

Lord, as Pope Francis told us that our animals will have a place in Paradise,
may those who have and died find a home in your eternally loving heart.

Lord,have mercy and bless with your peace those in conflict at this time.
Amen

[Mr G]