2/9/11 NO DOGS IN HEAVEN? ONLY HUMANS HAVE CAPACITY TO CHOOSE BETWEEN GOOD & EVIL ?

2/9/11 cblog NO DOGS IN HEAVEN? ONLY HUMANS HAVE CAPACITY TO CHOOSE BETWEEN GOOD & EVIL ? [That's what the priest said today...but I wonder about that ? I know some dogs are very kind & nice, others aren't; some wild animals are more vicious than others, & not just for survival sake. I question the notion that animals don't have souls or that our dogs won't be in heaven with us. I'm planning on being re-united with Lola my golden retriever some day. Talk about saints. She was a golden saint, a better "being" than me. She "discipled" me, which is why I think she was an angel sent by God; and why wouldn't God use animals to disciple some of us ? Or, alternatively, our animal's personality, in some cases, may become an extension of us, a reflection of our goodness, or lack of, & their "soulfulness", or lack of, may be dependent upon us ]

2/9/11St. Cath Lab [Fr african]...priest's homily: "...first reading genesis..creation...how came t be..god created man..second creation story..2 accounts..we read 2nd account today ..first of all ..when god created man..he breathed into his nostril..and gave him life..blew into his nostrils, the breath of life..god gave man free will..ability to choose.told man not to eat the fruit of the tree..the tree of knowledge of good & evil...shall not eat..or be doomed to die ..these things made man like god..ability to choose ..we have the ability to choose btw good & evil ..that is what makes us like ..image this is what we mean...not that god has 2 eyes, legs etc..that's not what god means..some ask me if their dog will go to heaven or hell ? Dogs don't have a soul..only humans have a soul..[hmm, not sure about that]..only humans have capacity to choose btw good & evil ..an animal can kill a human.but not a sin, not able to choose btw good & bad, right & wrong..we thank god for sharing life w/ us..thank for ability to choose btw good & evil, not robots ..we r higher,,higher things, mor expected..pray god will give us the strength, gratitude,,gift of life, of ability to choose btw good & evil ,,,

Gn 2:4b-9, 15-17 At the time when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens while as yet there was no field shrub on earth and no grass of the field had sprouted for the LORD God had sent no rain upon the earth and there was no man to till the soil, but a stream was welling up out of the earth and was watering all the surface of the groundB the LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life and so man became a living being Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and he placed there the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the LORD God made various trees grow that were delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil The LORD God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it. The LORD God gave man this order:“You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die.”

h your spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth. R. O bless the Lord, my soul! Jesus summoned the crowd again and said to them,“Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.” When he got home away from the crowd his disciples questioned him about the parable. He said to them,“Are even you likewise without understanding? Do you not realize that everything that goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters not the heart but the stomach and passes out into the latrine?”(Thus he declared all foods clean.)“But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him. From within the man, from his heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.”