Saints

 

Yesterday, I introduced you to St. Katharine Drexel, whom you may not have known before reading the Morning Meditation.  Today, I want to share about St. Francis of Assisi.  St. Francis is known for his love and care for animals, creation, and his tender heart for the poor and sick.  He is known for the prayer:

 

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

 

Francis once said, “The safest remedy against the thousand snares and wiles of the enemy is spiritual joy”.  Or contemporary poet, J. Drew Lanham says, “joy is the justice we give ourselves.”  One stanza of Lanham’s poem goes, “Joy is all the Black birds, flocked together, too many to count, too many to name, every one different from the next, swirling in singularity across amber-purpled sky. Joy is being loved up close for who we are.”  Many parts of St. Francis speak to my soul, including his simple way of life.  In our own fast-paced, consumer-oriented, information-overload time, we need to slow down to God’s pace (remember the September slow-down meditations didn’t end when we turned the calendar to October!).  Take time today to pray with St. Francis by going outside.  You can read about St. Francis, who had a reputation for living a life of luxury as a young person before giving up all his wealth.  Or did you know that in 1223 Francis staged the first-ever live Nativity scene in Greccio, Italy?  St. Francis reminds me of our Creation Justice Covenant that instills and inspires us to see God’s handiwork in the world around us.  Step outside today and pray the prayer above for yourself and for our world, where faith, hope, and joy are needed today.