First Friday of the Month
Readings of the Day
RB: Ch 7:49-50
Mass: Baruch 1:15-22; Resp Ps 79; Lk 10:13-16
For the glory of your name, O Lord, deliver us.
Just before Vigils this morning, I was thinking about ways to celebrate Saint Francis of Assisi, the poverello of Assisi. There are many ways to do this and one way is to embody gratitude. I imagine Francis of Assisi was a very grateful person. Then two things happened to assure me I might be on the right path. First, at morning prayer we sung Psalm 65[66], a thanksgiving for God's blessings. Second, we had a conference by a visiting Prioress from our sister house at Our Lady of Klaarland, Belgium. In it she expounded on four monastic virtues: trust, humor, gratitude, and courage. May we be grateful today and everyday! Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you!
To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us-and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces for him. Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.
(Thomas Merton, in The Way of Gratitude: Readings for a Joyful Life, p. 180)
May I feel in my heart, as far as possible, that abundance of love with which you, Son of God, were inflamed.
(St Francis of Assisi)
SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI, PRAY FOR US.
Today's photo: My nephew contributes again, now from Iceland.
© Gertrude Feick 2019
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