By Irene Conlan -

This morning I woke up with the Prayer of St. Francis on my mind. If you don’t know about St. Francis of Assisi, he’s worth getting to know. He was born to wealthy parents in Italy in 1181- 0r 1182. In his twenties he renounced “the things of the world” and began what was later known as the Franciscan Order. I think of him as an early hippie and a dedicated environmentalist. He was a remarkable man who lived a more than remarkable life that was filled with hardships and lived with abundant joy. He left us a formula for happiness that has endured for all these centuries and is absolutely relevant for such a time as ours. He taught:

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy 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.

Amen.