St. Francis
02/10/05
Tuesday is the Feast of Francis of Assisi, which we celebrate today with our annual blessing of the animals: "Bring your dogs, hogs or husbands..."
It's difficult to imagine an Episcopal church, even in the most Low Church tradition, without a small statue of St. Francis of Assisi somewhere on its grounds; tucked away in some serene setting.
Humble Francis truly loved all of God's creatures; the birds and beasts, the depressed and the outcasts. Living simply, with joy, and with a keen sense of the finite, Francis treated the birds, beasts and all beings as his brothers and sisters; and the simple "A Prayer attributed to St. Francis" (found on page 833 in The Book of Common Prayer) provides for us a mold in which to cast our own life's character. It draws a blueprint upon which to pattern our living; in our thoughts, speech and conduct in our day-to-day relationships with our fellow man, and with all life around us...
"Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we 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.
It's difficult to imagine an Episcopal church, even in the most Low Church tradition, without a small statue of St. Francis of Assisi somewhere on its grounds; tucked away in some serene setting.
Humble Francis truly loved all of God's creatures; the birds and beasts, the depressed and the outcasts. Living simply, with joy, and with a keen sense of the finite, Francis treated the birds, beasts and all beings as his brothers and sisters; and the simple "A Prayer attributed to St. Francis" (found on page 833 in The Book of Common Prayer) provides for us a mold in which to cast our own life's character. It draws a blueprint upon which to pattern our living; in our thoughts, speech and conduct in our day-to-day relationships with our fellow man, and with all life around us...
"Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we 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.