Make me an instrument... 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. October 4th is the feast day of St. Francis and I have been praying and thinking about this prayer often attributed to the beloved Saint. I am struck by the word instrument. An instrument can be a tool, a means, or a method for accomplishing a task or work. It can also be something used to create music. Whether it be a tool for turning over the hard ground of hearts and minds or helping to create the symphony of salvation, Francis simply asks that he be used by the Master. This is a prayer that I turn to often in my morning devotions. In part as a humble prayer that I might be made of service to others. But lately, I have been drawn to this prayer because I see a world in need of peace, pardon, faith, hope, light, joy, and most of all…Love. What if, in the power of the Holy Spirit, we were to truly embody this prayer? What if we, like Francis were to ask for the grace to sow…plant…cultivate these qualities as a response to the hatred, doubt, despair, and darkness in our world? How might the Master use us as his instruments today? Blessings,
Matthew+ Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP p. 234) |
