St. Francis Novena | Day 8: Radical trust in God
Fr. Pat McCloskey, OFM
Fr. Pat McCloskey, OFM
Pray we are guided by a radical trust in God just like St. Francis.
St. Francis, you had many moments of darkness, but you overcame them through how generously you accepted God's grace in your life. That grace always stretched you in ways you had not anticipated. For example, at one time you might have responded very differently when a friar cried out in the middle of the night, "I'm hungry." Instead of rebuking him, you ordered the other friars to get up and join the two of you in eating so that the hungry friar would not be embarrassed.
Your many hours of prayer in caves and in empty churches were not always moments of consolation. There you learned to accept God's idea of "normal" over the one with which you grew up and considered perfectly obvious. In such moments you learned what deserved to be called "a big deal" instead of situations that you had once described that way.
At one point you realized that the friars needed a type of leadership that you could no longer provide. You led by example, showing that grasping at an office was not what the Gospel requires.
Loving God, in all humility, help us to prayerfully place our doubts before you, asking that you show us the way we should go in whatever affects our family, local community, and the entire world.
Fr. Pat
(Fr. Pat McCloskey, OFM, is the Franciscan Editor for St. Anthony Messenger magazine published by Franciscan Media.)
St. Francis, you had many moments of darkness, but you overcame them through how generously you accepted God's grace in your life. That grace always stretched you in ways you had not anticipated. For example, at one time you might have responded very differently when a friar cried out in the middle of the night, "I'm hungry." Instead of rebuking him, you ordered the other friars to get up and join the two of you in eating so that the hungry friar would not be embarrassed.
Your many hours of prayer in caves and in empty churches were not always moments of consolation. There you learned to accept God's idea of "normal" over the one with which you grew up and considered perfectly obvious. In such moments you learned what deserved to be called "a big deal" instead of situations that you had once described that way.
At one point you realized that the friars needed a type of leadership that you could no longer provide. You led by example, showing that grasping at an office was not what the Gospel requires.
Loving God, in all humility, help us to prayerfully place our doubts before you, asking that you show us the way we should go in whatever affects our family, local community, and the entire world.
Fr. Pat
(Fr. Pat McCloskey, OFM, is the Franciscan Editor for St. Anthony Messenger magazine published by Franciscan Media.)
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