“God’s Peace”
Several years ago I had the opportunity to visit Italy and during that visit our
group visited the small village of Assisi. Assisi as many of you know is the
home of St. Francis. St. Francis has always left an impression on me
because of his emphasis on sharing with anyone who crossed his path. But
his reforms with the Catholic Church did not begin without controversy and
strife. Francis Bernadone was the son of a wealthy cloth merchant and
seemed destined for a life of affluence and influence. But one summer day in
1205, he slipped into a church in San Damiano and his eyes fell on a painted
image of Christ. He later reported that Jesus seemed to speak to him:
“Francis, don’t you see my house is being destroyed? Go, then, rebuild it for
me.”
A profound change overtook him. Francis began to care for people on the
margins. Francis began to care for the sick, the poor and abandoned. Just
like that, the Church wrapped itself around someone who was destined to
become one of the greatest reformers in Christian history. Thoughtful
historians have suggested that Francis is one of the five or ten most
admirable characters in the last twenty centuries. Donald Spoto, one of his
biographers, acknowledges, “Real Saints are not normal people.” But once
he found the north star of his life he fully abandoned himself to Jesus–he
functioned brilliantly.
Francis, having renounced his family’s wealth, wore a plain brown tunic. He
joyfully gave to the poor whenever gifts were placed in his hands. He
famously celebrated “brother sun and sister moon,” and preached a sermon
to a flock of birds. Within a dozen years Francis was surrounded by more
than 3000 followers. Francis died in 2026 at the age of 44, his fasts and
physical deprivations having left him nearly blind and covered with sores. His
final words were, “I have done my duty. May Christ now teach you yours.”
It’s possible that the most enduring legacy of this medieval Saint were his
efforts at peacemaking in a weary, war-torn world. Here is his best-known
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.”
One of the practical outflows of Francis’ commitment to peace was the
blessing he spoke to everyone he met: “May God’s peace be upon you.”
That’s a prayer we can pray for both friends and strangers, allies and
enemies, and everyone we meet today, tomorrow and every day after that.
Faithfully,
Ron Naylor, Chaplain