Let us pray to God for a heart full of gratitude
In Sunday’s readings, we heard about the ungrateful servant. Let us consider the example of someone whose attitude was quite the opposite. St. Francis of Assisi offers us such an example — a man who recognized that everything in his life was a gift from God and gave thanks to Him each day. A heart filled with gratitude produces generosity, mercy, and joy. Let us pray to God for a heart full of gratitude, following the example of St. Francis:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, 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 we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
St. Francis of Assisi Receiving the Stigmata, fresco attributed to Giotto, c. 1300; in the upper church of St. Francis Basilica, Assisi, Italy
