The Blessing of St. Francis

The Lord bless you and keep you,

Show his face to you and have mercy on you,

Turn his face towards you and give you peace.

The Lord bless you.

 

This is the ancient prayer from the Old Testament in which St. Francis gave his blessings to his brothers.

As we enter into the Transitus (October 3) and Feast Day (October 4) of our beloved St. Francis this same prayer is still echoed among the Friars and one we extend to our neighbors, families, friends, benefactors and even strangers.

God’s ways are rich and abundant, may we continually grow in awareness of how blessed we are.

God’s care and compassion are also rich and abundant, may we truly know we are kept close to God’s heart.

Each day God manifests God self in ways great and small, may we be open to seeing God’s face in our everyday.

Each day God pours forth what we need for God is love, may we embrace the gift of great mercy.

Blessed, Transformed, Renewed – these are the gifts of God turning God’s face toward us.

Blessed, Transformed, Renewed – these are the gifts of God giving us peace.

God indeed blesses each one of us, today and always. Let us count our blessings so we may in turn be a blessing to those around us.

On this Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, we pray that we may be agents of blessing, transformation and renewal just as Francis was in his time and place. We are all called to live the gospel as our way of life. Some of us chose to live it in a radical way (religious life, priesthood), others chose to live it in another form of radical (married life or single). Mo matter how we live the gospel, we can be assured that God walks with us, call us to life and equips us to live out our call.

As Saint Francis once said: “May I feel in my heart, as far as possible, that abundance of love with which you, Son of God, were inflamed.”

Yes, this is our call to live the gospel. Yes, this is the blessing of God! Yes, may our lives be inflamed today and every day in big and small ways. Yes, Lord Jesus you are the way, the truth and the life!

St. Francis… pray for us…

continue to guide us to Christ.

Happy Feast Day to All!