Prayer: Peace Prayer of St. 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, 
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen

 ~ St. Francis of Assisi
Other than the Lord's Prayer, I cannot think of a more perfect prayer than this one.

 And really, apologies to Jesus, but I might love this one even more!

 It's really all here, isn't it? 

 Who we are meant to be: a way for God to bring about peace.

 How we are meant to do that: with love, forgiveness, faith, hope, light, and joy.

 How we are to live with our neighbors: seeking first to love and serve them before we ask to be loved and served.

 What it is that happens to us when we live out this peace of God: that our giving and forgiving turns to receiving and being forgiven.

 And finally, that dying is not the end. That life and hope reign eternal.

 It summarizes perfectly what it means to be a follower of Christ. To be a citizen of the kingdom of God.

 To be a neighbor. To be a friend. To be a spouse or child or parent.

 To be, in essence, who we are meant to be.

 Prayer: Say the words of St. Francis' prayer silently or aloud as your prayer today. 

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