• Biblical Families is not a dating website. It is a forum to discuss issues relating to marriage and the Bible, and to offer guidance and support, not to find a wife. Click here for more information.

Kindhearted priest brings stray dogs to mass to help them find loving forever homes

L

LDremoved

Seasoned Member
Female
Oh my ❤️

"They will always be able to enter, sleep, eat, drink their water and find shelter and protection, for this house is of God and they are of God."

scoop.upworthy.com

Kindhearted priest brings stray dogs to mass to help them find loving forever homes

"They will always be able to enter, sleep, eat, drink their water and find shelter and protection, for this house is of God and they are of God."
scoop.upworthy.com scoop.upworthy.com

"Father João Paulo Araujo Gomes, from the city of Gravatá in Brazil, is an inspiring example of compassion and kindness. The priest, who is the head of the parish of Santana, has made a huge difference for the forgotten dogs of the locality over the past several years. Taking strays off the streets and bringing them into his church, he dedicates time and effort to find them loving forever homes. Father Gomes does this by bringing the canines to his church services once the vet gives the all-clear so that families coming in for mass will have the opportunity to fall in love with the pups and feel inclined to adopt them."
 

Attachments

  • 51039d80-fb7c-11eb-a2d8-2f84279acad1_800_420.png
    51039d80-fb7c-11eb-a2d8-2f84279acad1_800_420.png
    181.7 KB · Views: 1
Deuteronomy 23:18 - Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God.
Matthew 7:6 - Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
Proverbs 26:11 - As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.
Revelation 22:15 - For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
Philippians 3:2 - Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.

Don't get me wrong, I also really appreciate my dogs and love them. But let's not glorify them past their station. I think it's awful to be feeding dogs when there are children going hungry.
This is one of the neighborhoods in Gravata where this priest is feeding dogs in a church building. I'd be amazed if he has managed to take care of all the widows and orphans prior to feeding all those dogs. Let's not glorify something God would look upon as evil in his sight.
gravata brasil.jpg
 
NickF said:
Deuteronomy 23:18 - Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God.
Matthew 7:6 - Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
Proverbs 26:11 - As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.
Revelation 22:15 - For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
Philippians 3:2 - Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.

Don't get me wrong, I also really appreciate my dogs and love them. But let's not glorify them past their station. I think it's awful to be feeding dogs when there are children going hungry.
This is one of the neighborhoods in Gravata where this priest is feeding dogs in a church building. I'd be amazed if he has managed to take care of all the widows and orphans prior to feeding all those dogs. Let's not glorify something God would look upon as evil in his sight.
View attachment 3298
Click to expand...
I see no-need in turning ones back on something in need until the world is perfect. Sometimes you have to help what is right in front of you. This man may very well feed the entire community as well for all we know.

I see no point in a ranking system when it comes to being loving and giving. This could bring on so many other issues that I don't even feel like discussing.
 
Last edited:
LovesDogs said:
I see no point in a ranking system when it comes to being loving and giving.
Click to expand...
Jesus saw a point in a ranking system.
Mat 15:26 But he (Jesus) answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.

But I won't say any more on the matter.
 
NickF said:
Deuteronomy 23:18 - Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God.
Matthew 7:6 - Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
Proverbs 26:11 - As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.
Revelation 22:15 - For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
Philippians 3:2 - Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.

Don't get me wrong, I also really appreciate my dogs and love them. But let's not glorify them past their station. I think it's awful to be feeding dogs when there are children going hungry.
This is one of the neighborhoods in Gravata where this priest is feeding dogs in a church building. I'd be amazed if he has managed to take care of all the widows and orphans prior to feeding all those dogs. Let's not glorify something God would look upon as evil in his sight.
View attachment 3298
Click to expand...

NickF said:
Jesus saw a point in a ranking system.
Mat 15:26 But he (Jesus) answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.

But I won't say any more on the matter.
Click to expand...
So you're going to get rid of your dogs until world hunger is resolved I assume.

Also as a filthy dog glorifyer myself. I don't even think the story was about dogs. It was about setting an example of kindness. If a Priest in Brazil can take the time help something as low on the totem pole as a dog then imagine the example he is setting for people to be kind and loving towards one another.
 
Last edited:
God created Adam, and by extension all of us, to tend and care for His creation. Dogs are most certainly part of his creation. If this priest feels that part of his calling is to care for stray dogs, provided he is continuing to also minister to his flock and this does not detract from his obviously more important direct job of caring for humans, I don't have a problem with it.

Remember that this is the sort of cute story that newspapers love, and if you've ever had a newspaper write a story on something you were involved in you will know how terribly inaccurate they usually are. It is probable that his work with dogs has been overemphasised and his work with people underemphasised by the author simply because that's how journalists simplify things to make a pithy story for readers with a short attention span. It would be very wrong to jump to the conclusion that this priest was neglecting his duties to his parishioners and community just because a reporter did a write-up on how much he loves dogs and didn't talk about anything else. Better to assume the best in people.
 
NickF said:
Deuteronomy 23:18 - Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God.
Matthew 7:6 - Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
Proverbs 26:11 - As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.
Revelation 22:15 - For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
Philippians 3:2 - Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.

Don't get me wrong, I also really appreciate my dogs and love them. But let's not glorify them past their station. I think it's awful to be feeding dogs when there are children going hungry.
This is one of the neighborhoods in Gravata where this priest is feeding dogs in a church building. I'd be amazed if he has managed to take care of all the widows and orphans prior to feeding all those dogs. Let's not glorify something God would look upon as evil in his sight.
View attachment 3298
Click to expand...
You know that the "dogs" referred to in the Deuteronomy and Revelation passages are homosexual men, not our little canine buddies right?

You are right that God is vastly more concerned about people than He is about dogs (and we should be too).
 
Bartato said:
You know that the "dogs" referred to in the Deuteronomy and Revelation passages are homosexual men, not our little canine buddies right?

You are right that God is vastly more concerned about people than He is about dogs (and we should be too).
Click to expand...
Of course, comparison still describes the status and relative value He assigns a canine compared to a child.
 
NickF said:
Of course, comparison still describes the status and relative value He assigns a canine compared to a child.
Click to expand...
The Bible overall is pretty negative towards dogs.

My wife and I still love our sleepy little lapdog.

I think this Roman Catholic priest is misguided, but then again, he is a Roman Catholic priest. That kinda comes with the territory. ☺️
 
Bartato said:
think this Roman Catholic priest is misguided, but then again, he is a Roman Catholic priest. That kinda comes with the territory
Click to expand...
Let’s just say that it is one of the thing on which he is least misguided.
 
I’m going to break my decision to remain silent because I feel like I need to clarify what I was saying or intending to. So as to not misrepresent myself and allow continuance of misunderstandings regarding what I was trying to convey I’ll try to explain better below.

Yes I know those verses are not about canines. My usage was to illustrate comparative value and do so with scripture instead of personal preference. The Bible doesn’t use the word Dog in a positive light. Jesus himself chose to illustrate a negative comparison by using a dog as the example of detestable persons. So it’s fairly safe to assume He would prefer the care of a child over a dog.

1. The church steals from poor people by falsely teaching they must tithe and give their money. While purporting to use that money to care for widows and orphans. They don’t do it under the auspices of being PETA.
2. The church misuses this "likely" stolen filthy lucre to attire their false priests in fancy clothes, horrifically expensive buildings, and other spurious expenses that prop up their tyrannical hegemony. And apparently feed dogs.
3. To add insult to injury, this priest while doing a fractionally small good thing in caring for creatures in God’s creation, is giving that space to dogs rather than children or widows.
4. There shouldn’t be some fancy church building, let alone find it being used to house canines. I’d have just as much problem with it if you changed the animals to pigs, squirrels, chickens, or my personal favorite tropical fish. I’d still call it detestable if the guy had two dozen beautifully designed aquariums with discus and cardinal tetras.

Of course I don’t know all the circumstances or what he has or hasn’t done in its entirety. None of those extraneous details are needful in making a determination on the situation.

What I do know is glorification of using "likely" stolen goods to feed dogs (or any other creature) is shameful. I’ve never once seen a mandate from God to feed dogs. Feed people, yes, care for sick, yes. So if one is being done at all to the detriment of the other then it isn’t good. My main problem is the “church” that we are talking about and this “priest” exists to and is supposed to, and collects money for the purpose of caring for people. It’s misuse of funds. This would be a criminal offense in a corporate business. I’d fire an employee for doing this. And sue for damages.

I love my dogs, I care for them and feed them. I wept and grieved over the death of a dog who has been my friend and partner, she was my helper for 9 years. She protected my family and my animals for almost a decade. She was precious to me. I put her body in a place of honor for goodness sake.

To be completely honest I have such disdain for the Catholic church and most other institutional religions that the microscopically small “good” things they do could never atone for or balance out their great evils.

If someone disagrees, that’s totally fine with me, you’re entitled to your own judgement on the matter.

I love that people want to care for this planet and the creatures God has given us to steward. That is literally my profession and life work.

Sorry to be a downer and negative nelly on a sweet story about feeding puppies. I’m just pretty black and white about any institution with puff pieces produced to spin their evil organization in a positive light. I’d dig on Planned Parenthood doing the exact same thing.

My opinion isn’t a personal attack or inditement of some sin or moral failing on any BibFam member. I can see it’s pretty important to some people, so in the interest of not being contentious or being divisive I’ll refrain from future discussions. If you want to eat it up, enjoy. But that’s not the puddin I’m gonna slurp.
 
Last edited:
NickF said:
What I do know is glorification of using stolen goods to feed dogs (or any other creature) is shameful.
Click to expand...

Why do you assume that this priest isn't using donated and discarded food to feed these dogs? He can also be using his own money for this pet project of his.

I appreciate your feelings here but absent evidence of theft I'd not be so quick to accuse anyone of wrongdoing.
 
MeganC said:
Why do you assume that this priest isn't using donated and discarded food to feed these dogs? He can also be using his own money for this pet project of his.

I appreciate your feelings here but absent evidence of theft I'd not be so quick to accuse anyone of wrongdoing.
Click to expand...
Good point! There's a chance that is the case. My point that he is using so called church resources still is valid. He's using the building and presumably all the upkeep and maintenance, utilities etc. Those are resources that are purported to be for the care of "the people". If he is using it for stray dogs, he is still using it decidedly not for people. I'm approaching it from a heterarchical viewpoint. That church organization spends millions on marketing and PR. To convince people to give money.
I'll retract the assertion that it IS theft, and substitute "likely theft".
 
I think you're jumping to conclusions because you have a bias against the Catholic church in general @NickF. A bias held for very correct reasons for sure, reasons that underpinned the entire reformation. However, it is very wrong to take that bias against the church in general, and interpret the actions of an individual priest in its light. The majority of INDIVIDUALS in the Catholic church, especially at the lower levels (laypeople and parish priests), are very good people who are genuinely trying to serve God to the best of their ability. The institution is rotten at the top, and that rot does flow down through the structure, but it does not destroy all of the individuals.

On an individual level, this is a Christian brother who is doing something he believes God would want him to do. Probably using his own money (have you ever tried to get a church to agree to fund something? How would you get the budget committee to agree to set aside money to feed dogs? On the other hand, he's a single man with no doubt some slack in his salary after covering his modest expenses), and church property (because that's where he lives and works, it is the property available to him).

Don't jump to negative conclusions just because he's Catholic. Watch this very short hilarious video instead.
 
NickF said:
Good point! I'll retract the assertion that it IS theft, and substitute "likely theft".
Click to expand...

You're still making an unjustified assumption. I doubt you'd like someone calling you a child molester and then tempering it by saying you're just a likely child molester.

That said, casting an unfounded aspersion of theft upon the priest is bearing false witness.

NickF said:
There's a chance that is the case. My point that he is using so called church resources still is valid. He's using the building and presumably all the upkeep and maintenance, utilities etc. Those are resources that are purported to be for the care of "the people". If he is using it for stray dogs, he is still using it decidedly not for people. I'm approaching it from a heterarchical viewpoint. That church organization spends millions on marketing and PR. To convince people to give money.
Click to expand...

Churches have ministries and they have ministers. If this particular priest is reaching people via this unusual ministry then that is his choice. It is also the choice of his parish to support him or direct their giving elsewhere.

I get it that you do not belong to an organized church. As I write this neither do I. I still tithe and support a number of Christian organizations, Biblical ministries, causes, and patriotic organizations. None of them 'stole' my money. I gave it freely and with no strings attached.

By my own analysis I find the Roman Catholic Church to be a schismatic and non-Christian religion that holds Roman pagan traditions at its core. The notion that God and Jesus need any help from a legion of saints/demigods is pure heresy and I reject it outright.

I believe the facts uphold this analysis.

But I do not see any facts to support the notion that the individual priest in question is any kind of a thief.
 
Sorry, I don’t think I specifically called one man a thief. But spoke about the catholic church using religion to if you really think about it force people and con them into giving. They are using religion and twisting scripture to convince people to give to them. I call a con man a thief no matter if the person believed they were giving the money freely.

I’ll give the recent responses a more thorough reading and response when i get time later this evening perhaps.

And if I’m being overly negative and fractious I sincerely apologize. This has been a really rough week and the majority of it has to do with institutional religion. So I’m probably not being reasonable or rational right now. I should probably just bow out and eat crow for the time being.
 
NickF said:
institutional religion
Click to expand...

If that's the problem then don't go to an organized church. But then try to make peace with whatever it is that has burdened you so you can fellowship with other Christians even if they belong to some sort of church.

In our own way right here on BF we are a sort of loosely organized and institutionalized congregation. Seriously, unless you wish to be alone then anywhere you go and there's one more Christian then you are in/at/having church.

Matthew 18:20
“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top