Daily Thoughts - 10/04/2013

Daily Thoughts: Some of the thoughts and wisdom of and about St. Francis of Assisi.

“Blessed is the servant who loves his [or her] brother [or sister] as much when he [or she] is sick and useless as when he [or she] is well and maybe of service to him [or her]. And blessed is he [or she] who loves his [or her] brother [or sister] as well when he [or she] is far off as when he [or she] is by his [or her] side, and who would say nothing behind his [or her] back he [or she] might not, in love, say before his [or her] face.”  (St. Francis of Assisi)

“The good Bishop of Assisi expressed a sort of horror at the hard life which the Little Brothers lived at the Portiuncula, without comforts, without possessions, eating anything they could get and sleeping anyhow on the ground. St. Francis answered him with that curious and almost stunning shrewdness which the unworldly can sometimes wield like a club of stone. He said, 'If we had any possessions, we should need weapons and laws to defend them.” (G.K. Chesterton, Saint Francis of Assisi)

“All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of one single candle - St. Francis of Assisi.” (G.A. Zanni)

“It is not fitting, when one is in God's service, to have a gloomy face or a chilling look.” (St. Francis of Assisi)

“Always tell of God's love. If necessary, use words.”  (St. Francis of Assisi)

St. Francis of Assisi is truly a man, a saint for all seasons! Have a blessed and peaceful Feast of St. Francis of Assisi!

Daily Prayer:

Lord, make us an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us 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 we 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.
(Adapted from the prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi)

Runner’s Thoughts: “Running is a thing worth doing not because of the future rewards it bestows, but because of how it feeds our bodies and minds and souls in the present.” (Kevin Nelson) Feed your soul today!

Daily Blessing: Happy Feast of St. Francis of Assisi everyone! May the gentle, loving and peaceful spirit of Francis be with you today! May the richness and beauty of God’s creation that Francis so loved, touch you as you walk through this day. May the grace of God’s loving presence that Francis so lived be present to you as you journey through this day. And may the gentleness of God’s peace that Francis gave to the world, guide you through this day.

Have a wonderful day everyone! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul