Feast of Saint Peter Tu (10 July 2008)

 

Last night as I sat at my desk composing a letter, my eyes fell upon a calendar that hangs on the wall just above my desk. At the bottom of the page for this month of July, the editors have printed the well-known prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi. I read it, as I have done many times before, and the beauty of it struck me again. Let me read it to you here and now:

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.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.
Thank you for seeking God’s truth. God bless you. Father Victor Brown, O.P.