St. Francis Novena | Day 6: To serve others, Francis held nothing back
Fr. Bill Farris, OFM
Fill us with your gifts and make us always eager to serve you in faith, hope and love.
"May we be blessed with the desire to give all of our strength and abilities." Today's prayer highlights the complete dedication to God's will that Francis practiced throughout his life. When St. Francis was looking for direction from God, he did a random search through the Gospels for guidance. Here is how the story is told in his biography, The Legend of the Three Companions:
"Once they had finished prayer, blessed Francis took the closed book and, kneeling before the altar, opened it. At its first opening, the Lord's counsel confronted them: If you wish to be perfect, go, sell everything you possess and give to the poor, and you will have a treasure in heaven (Mk 10:21). When he opened it up the second time, he saw: Take nothing for your journey (Lk 9:3), and at the third opening: If any man wishes to come after me, he must deny himself (Mt 16:24)."
St. Francis knew that he had found what he was looking for. Jesus was challenging him to throw aside all earthly security and to throw himself completely into living the gospel without holding back, in complete dependency on God. He kept this radical trust in God all through his active years.
Toward the end of his life, as the Order grew larger, St. Francis sensed that many of his brothers struggled to keep to this high ideal. He wrote to all the friars and urged them to "hold back nothing of yourselves for yourselves, that He Who gives Himself totally to you may receive you totally!" St. Francis passes to us this core lesson that guided his life. It can guide our lives, too.
Fr. Bill
(Fr. Bill Farris, OFM, is the Provincial Vicar of the Province of St. John the Baptist.)
https://www.stanthony.org/day-6-fr-bill/#:~:text=St.%20Francis%20Novena,John%20the%20Baptist.)
Fr. Bill Farris, OFM
Fill us with your gifts and make us always eager to serve you in faith, hope and love.
"May we be blessed with the desire to give all of our strength and abilities." Today's prayer highlights the complete dedication to God's will that Francis practiced throughout his life. When St. Francis was looking for direction from God, he did a random search through the Gospels for guidance. Here is how the story is told in his biography, The Legend of the Three Companions:
"Once they had finished prayer, blessed Francis took the closed book and, kneeling before the altar, opened it. At its first opening, the Lord's counsel confronted them: If you wish to be perfect, go, sell everything you possess and give to the poor, and you will have a treasure in heaven (Mk 10:21). When he opened it up the second time, he saw: Take nothing for your journey (Lk 9:3), and at the third opening: If any man wishes to come after me, he must deny himself (Mt 16:24)."
St. Francis knew that he had found what he was looking for. Jesus was challenging him to throw aside all earthly security and to throw himself completely into living the gospel without holding back, in complete dependency on God. He kept this radical trust in God all through his active years.
Toward the end of his life, as the Order grew larger, St. Francis sensed that many of his brothers struggled to keep to this high ideal. He wrote to all the friars and urged them to "hold back nothing of yourselves for yourselves, that He Who gives Himself totally to you may receive you totally!" St. Francis passes to us this core lesson that guided his life. It can guide our lives, too.
Fr. Bill
(Fr. Bill Farris, OFM, is the Provincial Vicar of the Province of St. John the Baptist.)
https://www.stanthony.org/day-6-fr-bill/#:~:text=St.%20Francis%20Novena,John%20the%20Baptist.)
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