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The Prayer Attributed to St. Francis of Assisi

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Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me bring love. Where there is offence, let me bring pardon. Where there is discord, let me bring union. Where there is error, let me bring truth. Where there is doubt, let me bring faith. Where there is despair, let me bring hope. Where there is darkness, let me bring your light. Where there is sadness, let me bring joy.


O Lord, 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 one receives, it is in self-forgetting that one finds, it is in forgiving that one is forgiven, it is in dying that one awakens to eternal life.

Amen.

Moving Forward Meditations

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Moving Forward - 31 January 2025

    FRIDAY, January 31, Marcella of Rome


    Psalm 40:9b I love to do your will, O my God; your law is deep in my heart.


    I’ve been privileged to see Judy Chicago’s famous work of art, The Dinner Party, which honors 1,038 women of history. Marcella, whom we remember today, is commemorated in the work with an exquisitely detailed place setting that features many symbols of the Christian faith indicating the central role she played in the development of the church and Christian monasteries.


    Marcella was a noblewoman of the Roman Empire. She was married at a young age and widowed less than a year later. Instead of remarrying, as was the custom, she devoted the rest of her life to God and studying the Bible. She turned her palace into a refuge for other Christian noble women wishing to join her, living strictly, as did ascetic monks. Marcella’s piety and the reputation of her refuge led to the formation of other informal convents in Rome, beginning the Roman monastic movement for which she is credited as founder and given sainthood.


    I am humbled and inspired to learn of Marcella’s life of faith. She loved God, and her delight helped to change the world.


    MOVING FORWARD: What can we learn from the life of Marcella?



    (Source: Forward Day by Day Movement)

     
     
     

    Moving Forward - 30 January 2025

      THURSDAY, January 30


      Psalm 118:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his mercy endures forever.


      If you’ve been reading these devotional messages all month, you may have noticed that I like to use exclamation points, maybe a little too much! In some translations, this verse ends with the use of an exclamation point. That caught my attention, especially because there aren’t that many exclamation points in the Bible. The Hebrew word that has been translated here as “mercy” is chesed. There is no English equivalent, so chesed is also translated as loving- kindness, steadfast love, compassion, or goodness.


      Chesed is an attribute or quality God possesses. It is part of God’s very nature. God is love (1 John 4:1b), and everything God does flows from love.


      First, God chose a people to love and then extended that fullness of love to the entire world through God’s own son, Jesus. God’s love is so wide and long and deep and high that we can’t even name it or truly understand it (Ephesians 3:18-19), but we can experience it. And that’s something to get excited about!!


      MOVING FORWARD: To what other passages would you add an exclamation point?



      (Source: Forward Day by Day Movement)

       
       
       

      Moving Forward - 29 January 2025

        WEDNESDAY, January 29


        Galatians 2:19b-20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.


        Almost fifty years ago, I chose this verse for my confirmation. I marvel now at the audacity and wonder of my childhood faith. For most of my life, I tried to live by faith in the Son of God, believing that it was my faith that mattered—that faith was something I did. This took quite a bit of mental and spiritual gymnastics at times, as I struggled to make sense of some of life’s events and circumstances. But now, I’m learning to live by the faith of the Son of God. One tiny word makes all the difference! It’s not my faith, but Jesus’s, that matters in my life.


        Thankfully, it’s not about me. My job is to stay connected to Jesus. He is not only the source but also the conductor of my faith. I am simply the recipient.


        MOVING FORWARD: Does your faith sometimes require spiritual gymnastics? What do you think this verse is saying to you?



        (Source: Forward Day by Day Movement)

         
         
         
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