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This year, our Lenten Wednesdays Services @ 6:30 pm focus on the saints. This means some of us will have to reach back further than the likes of our Baptist saints like Adoniram Judson or Roger Williams.
Last Wednesday, for example, we reached back to the 12 the century and got to know a little bit more about Francis of Assisi. The son of a prosperous Italian cloth merchant, Francis let go of his privileged status in favor of a life dedicated to God and the embodiment of the Good News. His was not a “rags to riches” story but a “riches to rags” story.
Francis’ reading of the Gospels convinced him that Jesus could be found in the lives of the poor, in the suffering of others, in the creatures of earth and sky and in the work of peacemaking. You might think this would make Francis a rather moody and somber disciple. Yet, Francis did not disparage life. Francis embraced life and treasured the ordinary gifts of life. In other words, Francis was filled with joy.
Meditating in a small, run-down chapel, Francis heard God ask “Francis do you not see that my house is falling down?” In fact, the church was in a state of ruin. Then, he heard God say, “Repair it!”
Nine centuries later, the Franciscan spirit of simple, peace-filled and joyful living in harmony with God, nature and one another continues to bring new life into the church and our world.
Here’s one of the more famous prayers attributed to Francis:
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;
It is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.
Amen.
