“They are living a life of total self giving. I ask it of you also.”
This was another ‘message’ received during my time in the chapel during my retreat. These monks live a regimented life of self negation for the love of God and their fellowman. Am I called to this too? Yes, perhaps not in the same form that they are living it…but yes. I was convicted of how often I live in search of love for myself, instead of looking to give it away. Wherever we may find ourselves, we are there to BE Jesus to these folks, to GIVE love. And remember the message I posted earlier…a call to love is a call to serve! In our homes, in our jobs, in our churches, in our schools, even in our social networks.
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;
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.