Feb. 19, 2013 Tuesday: Divine Mercy Week #3
Our pilgrimage takes us today to the region of Umbria in Italy, to a city built on the side of a Mount Subasio called Assisi. It’s here that Francis, a son of a wealthy cloth merchant, renounced his inheritance after a powerful encounter with Jesus on the Crucifix. Prior to that encounter, Francis enjoyed fine clothing, sports, dating young ladies, and feasts. But then a series of encounters--one with a beggar and one with a leper--left him to disdain his taste for worldly life. One day, he was earnestly seeking direction from God in a small, dilapidated church called San Damiano. He fell on his knees and began to pray intensely. “Lord Jesus, what do you want me to do?” Francis lifted his head from the stone floor, gazed up at the crucifix, and as he looked searchingly into the eyes of Jesus, they seemed to have depth like real eyes. Suddenly, the whole face of the Christ seemed to move, and Francis was afraid. Then a voice clear and resonant pierced Francis’ soul. “Francis, go now and repair my church which, as you see, is falling down.”
In our hearts are fears—we fear that we are not what we ought to be, that we don't love and serve the Lord as he has called us to do or that we cannot mend the wrongs that we have done. During this time of prayer tonight, will we respond to the Lord as St. Francis did? The Lord speaks to us personally to our hearts, here, in this moment of prayer. “I know the plans I have for you...plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” And like Francis, we ask the Lord, “Lord Jesus, what do you want me to do?” The San Damiano crucifix came alive and spoke to Francis. During this evening of prayer, will you allow the message of Divine Mercy become alive in you? As you gaze upon the Eucharist in the monstrance or the image of Divine Mercy, will you listen as the Lord speaks, “Go now and repair my church which, as you see, is falling down.” The image of Divine Mercy beckons us to repair our lives, our relationships, our failings— in honor of him who gave his life there on the cross so that we could become more in the fullness of his presence— to be instruments of peace. Christ’s death and resurrection, celebrated on this gilded cross, is a call to each of us— like Francis— to become great through him. We are called to live and to be like him and ultimately to be transformed.
At this Divine Mercy novena, we pray for all the faithful souls like St. Francis who are among us here in Donaldsonville, who listen obediently and respond generously to the Lord’s call to repair and to rebuild.
In our hearts are fears—we fear that we are not what we ought to be, that we don't love and serve the Lord as he has called us to do or that we cannot mend the wrongs that we have done. During this time of prayer tonight, will we respond to the Lord as St. Francis did? The Lord speaks to us personally to our hearts, here, in this moment of prayer. “I know the plans I have for you...plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” And like Francis, we ask the Lord, “Lord Jesus, what do you want me to do?” The San Damiano crucifix came alive and spoke to Francis. During this evening of prayer, will you allow the message of Divine Mercy become alive in you? As you gaze upon the Eucharist in the monstrance or the image of Divine Mercy, will you listen as the Lord speaks, “Go now and repair my church which, as you see, is falling down.” The image of Divine Mercy beckons us to repair our lives, our relationships, our failings— in honor of him who gave his life there on the cross so that we could become more in the fullness of his presence— to be instruments of peace. Christ’s death and resurrection, celebrated on this gilded cross, is a call to each of us— like Francis— to become great through him. We are called to live and to be like him and ultimately to be transformed.
At this Divine Mercy novena, we pray for all the faithful souls like St. Francis who are among us here in Donaldsonville, who listen obediently and respond generously to the Lord’s call to repair and to rebuild.
