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Chapter 1
Why We Think Animals May Go to Heaven

Heaven goes by favor.
If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.
—Mark Twain

Mark Twain got it right: if we were not saved by grace, heaven would probably be going to the dogs! Pet lovers, at one time or another have seen the beauty of God in their pets’ eyes. Our pets, like creation, mirror God’s love for us. So to tell animal lovers that their pets will be as dust into oblivion, and that their beloved animals hold no value or dignity before God, is like saying that God did not value the good he brought forth—and therefore He is a liar!

Of course, as Catholics, we know that God is not a liar, and that He is a God with a high tolerance for our misbehavior, prodigal tendencies, hearing-impaired willfulness, and general covenant-breaking. We have been nothing but trouble from Day Six—the day the Lord created us! Even with all of our incriminating credentials and loathsome disrespect, God sees His image in us and has held true to His covenant with humankind since the Garden of Eden. Thomas Aquinas acknowledged that God intended to communicate His perfection—His goodness—in the world.

We surmise certain truths as we look at why we believe in heaven and a hereafter:
•    There is but one God.
•    Everything that God—who is perfect love—has created is good.
•    All things were created to glorify God and return to Him.
•    Man was given the unique ability to choose to love God in return.
•    All other creation was given a particular good.
•    God wants humankind and creation to join Him in perfection.
•    God always existed; everything else that exists comes from God.
•    God’s love for us supersedes all boundaries and is beyond our power of understanding.
•    God knows everything; He is the author of all, and that never changes.
•    God has known intimately all that He has brought into existence. A trillion years from now, God will remember the first atom that He ever created for this universe.
•    God lives outside of time in the “forever now,” or eternity.
•    In heaven, the thoughts and presence of God will never be absent from His creations. Human minds and bodies will sense the sights, sounds, and the wondrous beauty that most certainly will surround us.

What could be more beautiful than what God has prepared for the faithful? Referring to Isaiah 64:4, Saint Paul writes:

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear has heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Cor. 2:9).

God gives us not only beautiful, created things, but also His only Son, Jesus, as a ransom for man and all of creation, our mediator between heaven and earth.

On this earth, all creation is evolving, according to the supernatural plan of God, toward a complete and perfect union with Him. In the magnificent book, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, Pope John Paul II alluded to the love that God the Father has for the world by referencing the scripture, John 3:16:

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

The world and man were consecrated through the power of the redemption.

All of this is a good foundation that leads us to feel that the all-powerful Creator has plans for everything created, both here and eternally, especially for those who love the Lord.

But then, there are also those incredible animal stories!

There are animals that have saved human beings; animals that manifested extraordinary courage; animals that exhibit an uncanny ability to show emotion, and even to cry; animals that can communicate, some with hierarchical methods and some with sign language; animals that know when a tornado or an earthquake is coming; animals that can smell cancer, drugs, termites (I use a termite service for my home that has such a dog, a beagle), and even the approach of an epileptic seizure; and animals that have been transformed by the love of just one human being.

I recently read that various animal hospitals, zoos, and livestock houses are seeing success with the healing power of music from a harp.  Animals that exhibit anxiety or stress are allowed to listen to a CD of harp music. Their heart rates drop, respiration becomes more normal, and in some cases, the animals just doze off. Isn’t it amazing that an instrument we humans consider heavenly in its sound would also induce such peaceful effects in animals! In some ways, we are not so far apart.

There are dog whisperers and horse whisperers who are a breed apart, so to speak, when it comes to communicating with certain types of animals. These humans have come to know their animal subjects through hours of observation, watching the subtle posturing, socialization activities, and body language of a species. These whisperers emanate a spirit of sincere goodwill and authority, peppered with honest affection that the animals truly sense and respond to! These gifted men and women have a God-given talent to connect with animals at the animals’ communicative level. I’m not talking about psychic abilities; I am talking about people who understand the natural law, and animal behavior at a higher level than do most other human beings. They tap into the secret language of an animal and are able to reach the most distant or troubled subjects.

What about all of that?

When I was younger, I read a book that came to symbolize everything I had always felt—and, in time, learned—about dogs and most of nature. W. Phillip Keller’s Lessons from a Sheepdog,  speaks volumes about what a man, as a good steward, can do with a creature that despises human beings. Keller’s journey in mending the untrusting heart of a dog and transforming both the dog and himself into new and beautiful creations is a lesson in divine salvation. Through subtle attempts to reach this beautiful dog, Lass, Keller comes to gain the dog’s trust, and Lass places her life and her affections in her master’s hands. In the patient process of reaching Lass, Keller sees the parallel between what he is doing with the dog and what God waits for and wants from us. It is a story for any animal lover who wants to know the secret of loving an animal well through the role that God intended for us, and it helps illustrate the truth of a loving God who providentially cares for all He has created.

There is also the horse whisperer, Monty Roberts. His observational skills and listening ability with horses is world-renowned. He broke the secret language of Equus, communicating with horses by reading their body language and sending similar signals back. He never broke a horse with the abusive practices. He conducted what he called gentling. Now there’s a great term for you! This gifted man not only had communicative talents with horses, but also with deer, jokingly referring to himself as “multilingual.”

Many Catholics may not know that Pope Benedict XVI has been a cat lover for a long time. In his boyhood years, the Holy Father had a great affinity for nature and animals, and he received pets as Christmas gifts. In his adult years, he always had a cat or cats about him; his brother, Father Georg Ratzinger, cares for the family cats today. When the Holy Father was Cardinal Ratzinger, his care for the stray cats that lived about the Vatican area was renowned in Rome. He nursed the injured and sick ones, feeding many of the cats that took up residence close to where he lived. There was a time when so many cats followed him to the Vatican that a Swiss Guard was heard to remark that he thought the cats were “laying siege to the Holy See.”

There has been much published in recent years regarding near-death experiences (NDEs). These are out-of-body experiences of adults and children who are said to be clinically dead. Their souls leave their bodies, traveling either into the light or into total darkness. These people see what is happening to their bodies from above—in some cases at great distance—and are later able to describe in detail what was happening around them.   NDEs occur in all cultures and in all faiths. The study of NDEs has gone mainstream, and many doctors, psychologists, and scientists are involved in frontline research into this awakening field. The research shows that there are basically two groups: no matter what the religious background or personal beliefs of the subjects, there are those who have a good experience and those who have a bad experience.

Those experiencing the good almost always describe entering some type of light, tunnel, cosmic radiance, or glowing emanation. This is accompanied with feelings of peace and joy, a sensation of time speeding up, a heightened sense of awareness, and a sense of crossing into another world. They meet family or friends who have died; experience completeness, a total peace, and embracing love; and have a sense of the presence of a divine personage. There also is a sense of leaving a place of exile (earth) and returning home—something not sensed while present in the human body.

Adults and children alike have described seeing family pets, petting and embracing pets, and even seeing other animals and created things, such as flowers, trees, birds, and mountains. They hear incredible music and see colors that our human eyes could not bear to see because of the brilliance and diffusive nature of the glorified natural. I find it especially poignant that young children see such things, as they have no preconceived ideas to interfere with the experience.

Only in the recounting of those who have experienced the good do we find what would be defined as a heavenly experience, in which animals and creation are seen in a new luminosity. It is very comforting and hopeful to hear such accounts. Those experiencing the good have no fear of death upon their return to their bodies, and most come back with a sense of mission.

Those who have bad NDEs describe being cast into darkness—a sense of falling through dark space and taken into nothingness. They describe themselves as feeling anxious, hopeless, and fearful, surrounded by an unseen—yet palpably evil and menacing—presence or force. Never once has anyone who had a bad NDE recounted seeing any earthly animals during the experience, which most all considered to be a visit to hell. Bad NDEs have included descriptions of other-worldly or demonic creatures present in a pervading darkness over a barren terrain or turbulent flames in a shining darkness. The bad NDE group showed a significant change toward better behavior and a more value-oriented life upon returning to their bodies.

As Catholics, we certainly believe what Jesus has told us: that humanity, given free will and intellect, will either choose to be with Him eternally in heaven, or with Satan eternally in damnation.

People who experience good NDEs perceive that they are in heaven and see animals and creation; those who experience bad NDEs recount nothing of animals.  The study of NDEs certainly lends credence to the doctrinal truth that Jesus is connected to all material creation that is good. Heavenly views of human and nonhuman creation, glorified, would be indicative of Jesus’s redeeming power over all things.

Catholic saints and visionaries down through the ages have been given insight and knowledge regarding heaven. One great Catholic saint that comes to mind is Saint John Bosco, also called Don Bosco. God allowed Don Bosco to see the part of heaven that was explained by Don Bosco’s guide as being the “glorified natural,” a place where creation appeared in its glorified state.

Veterinarians have their own stories of animal miracles that occur in their offices: wonderful, heartwarming stories that involve saving a pet from the fringe of death; lost animals that have overcome tremendous odds to be reunited with their families; animals that express joy of being or spirit; animals that communicate almost telepathically with their caregivers; material signs following the death of a pet, either witnessed or felt, of something beyond this world. You can watch just one episode of any animal-rescue program or emergency-vet program on television and know that something more powerful than medicine is at work there. The eyes of the animals as they are held with loving arms show surrender to and unconditional trust in the humans caring for their needs.

The saints who have received private revelations from Mary, Mother of Jesus, tell us that on occasion, the Blessed Mother is seen with a bird or birds about her. It is remarkable to note that at the Blessed Mother’s home in Ephesus, Turkey, which was built for her and in which she lived with St. John the Beloved, birds abound. The area is known as Bulbul Dag, which means “Mountain of Nightingales.”

All these examples of the tremendous presence and power of animals in our lives lead us to consider that surely these creatures would be provided for in heaven by a loving God.

Bonds between humans and animals are as powerful as those between father and son or mother and daughter. To deny this or want to ignore it does not allow for God’s healing hand to help man toil with God for the good of all He has created. Take a look at what Wisdom 13:5 says:

For from the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator.

We must remember, though, that animals are what they are. They are not human. All animals were created according to God’s own unique design and are hardwired differently in their relationship with the Creator than is humankind, requiring the same yet, different providential care than God gives to humanity. Animals live among us with usual, unusual, and even inspiring behaviors that suggest an undercurrent of some unseen power that sustains and dignifies their existence. God has considerations for all creation! Take heart!

There is much in sacred scripture that gives us hope to believe in the providential care of creation by God, both here and renewed. Isn’t that the crux of our existence? That we always hope in the Lord? Should we not embrace what He himself in the Second Person has embraced by becoming human and material? Jesus embraced all of creation, not just man. He knows how very much we love, and what and whom we love!

No animal can be more important than a human soul, nor should we obsess unnecessarily over our lesser brethren in the animal world. But they are a gift, and we should respect the animals and all creation with the dignity and value given it by God. God has given of Himself to all that is nonhuman to receive to the degree that He can fill it. Non-humans maintain a unique relationship with God, as does the human part of creation.

From the book of Isaiah comes a descriptive metaphor of the coming of Jesus into the world:

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall feed; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. (Isa. 11:6–9).

This glorious description by Isaiah is very poignant in its use of animals to create this vision of peaceful harmony. Why didn’t Isaiah use more humanistic terms? Was he just poetic that day and wanted his words to be “flowery”? Or perhaps he chose to describe the scene in this way because creation is Gods loving reflection, offering a glimpse of both God’s face and His desire for all things on earth to be brought into renewal with the coming Messianic times.

It certainly gives us hope in the coming of a new heaven and a new earth as proclaimed in Revelation, where we find another verse of encouragement:

And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all therein, saying, “To him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might for ever and ever!” (Rev. 5:13)

Sacred scripture is very clear that every living thing will praise the return of Jesus the Christ as He is Redeemer of all and lifts all that He has created into His eternal hands.

“All that the Father gives me will come to me.”
—John 6:37