A FRANCISCAN friend of mine, Bill Wicks, SFO National Minister of the SFO AT THE TIME, sent me an email after I told him a story about our dog Charlie. He quoted this part of a book about a dog Francis of Assisi

"Here is a quote from the book "The Secret of Francis of Assisi"- A Meditation" by Christian Bobin about dogs.

"This dog is in the Bible. There are whales, lambs, birds, serpents, but very few dogs. In fact you know of no other dog but that one, roaming the roads, following the two masters; laughter and silence, playfulness and grace. The dog Francis of Assisi. "

Dogs have eternally been linked with mankind...especially Shepherds of Sheep. At Shepherd Too we have three sheep - Hanna, Charlotte and Ashley. Dogs are a big part of Shepherd Too and Charlie is a big part of all of our lives.

A Little Backgroud Story About Charlie

Charlie is our Cavalier King Charles who has been an inspiration to so many he has touched. Charlie was purchased from a breeder just outside of Philadelphia. Although we were skeptical about purchasing a puppy from outside the Cavalier King Charles Club, we felt compelled to visit anyway.

Upon arrival, I noticed a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the front of the breeders house. Feeling this was a sign, we proceeded to visit with the owners and sure enough, our feelings about the puppy and the owners were validated.

Upon a recent visit to the breeder, the breeder said to me "I must admit, your dog Charlie is the most lovable and largest and most beautiful of all the dog's we bred." "Bet you say that to all of your patrons," I joked in embarrassment" bet I don't" he said back" your dog is a a very special dog."

This is a portion of a story that appeared in the TAU about Charlie and dogs....

"...It was late...and Charlie sat on my lap as I reached for "The Challenge"(the newsletter from Fr. Phil Dabney, C.Ss.R. of the Repemptorist Order..."..."Well Charlie look at this...there's a picture of Fr. Kevin Murray,C.Ss.R. and his dog Nellie, ...and listen to this Charlie, "....Father's part lab, part German shepherd dog who serves as hostess (At Sarnelli House in West Phila.) and who takes her job very seriously, standing in the entrance hall waiting for guests (the most abandoned) to arrive. A friendly pat on the head is her reward..."..."...see Charlie," I said as I patted him on his head..."this must be a Redemptorist dog of St. Alphonsus Liguori...he and his followers too, like the Franciscans..."..have a Preference for the Most Abandoned...too

Charlie looked up at me with his large brown eyes as I said, "It's getting late buddy, time for some prayers,"OH LOOK" ---let me read this to you from the same article....

"To those who pray, God gives with no sparing hand,...but God's riches are infinite, and the more He gives the more He has to give,and therefore, He gives abundantly with unsparing Hand, far surpassing aught we can ask."

St. Alphonsus Liguori

Father Phil Dabney is the Director of Redemptorist Vocations at:

His office: vocations@redemptorists.net

Telephone: 718.321.1394

A story "Charlie Did It" is also published in "Dog Tales for the Soul"

This family picture of Charlie is a part of the back cover of this book, and his proceeds go to help out some of his most abandoned and disowned friends in Butler County (Pennsylvania) Human Society no kill shelter at :

email: (humanebc@aol.com)