Telling Our Stories, Bridging the Past and Present

By Caroline Stanfill
Felician Volunteers in Mission

Reflection:

St. Francis was born into a family of wealth and means. He spent his youth living a life of indulgence and pleasure. The fine cloth for which his father was a merchant, adorned St. Francis with the finest clothes. The worldly pleasures meant more to the young Francesco than God. Through imprisonment and illness, Francis was healed and freed to the hear voice of God. Like Christ he took his suffering and transformed it into goodness. In the suffering God spoke to St. Francis, and Francis was finally open to hear His call. 

Questions for Reflection:

• In what ways are we open to the call of Jesus in our life?” 

• In what ways is our ministry acting to be a transformation in the lives of others?

St. Francis’ Prayer for Peace:
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is error, the truth;
Where there is doubt, the faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And 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. Amen.