PRAYER OF ST FRANCIS
Make me a channel of your peace,
Where there is hatred let me bring your love,
Where there is injury your pardon Lord,
And where there's doubt true faith in you.
Make me a channel of your peace,
Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope,
Where there is darkness, only light,
And where there's sadness, ever joy.
O Master grant that I may never seek,
So much to be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love with all my soul.
Make me a channel of your peace,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
In giving to all men that we receive
And in dying that we are born to eternal life
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CNN News today ran a story of the escalating level of violence that is attaching itself to the McCain campaign. The ugliness of the situation is described at:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/10/mccain.crowd/index.html
There is a related story on beliefnet:
http://blog.beliefnet.com/progressiverevival/2008/10/kill-him-crosses-the-line.html
What I see happening today in the campaign, in our nation, and in our clergy disturbs me greatly. It disturbs me because those who are in leadership positions who could be the voice of reason to quiet the violence are the ones inciting it. John McCain started the hate campaign so he could win the election. He continues to refuse to say or do anything to stop the escalating violence when he speaks. Sarah Palin actively encourages the hate and continuously fans the flame of hate in every speech she makes, and seems to be really getting a thrill out of the way the crowd responds. Both are doing what they do with the approval of the Republican Party and the current administration.
The clergy who was so vocal in their condemnation of Obama for his supposed position on abortion, is amazingly silent on this latest development from the McCain camp. Why?
Do we have to experience the violence of a riot, with the subsequent destruction and death it will bring before we say ENOUGH! I was working in public safety during the race riots of the 70's. Believe me when I say ... we do NOT EVER want to see a repeat of that or anything like it. Yet that is exactly where our leadership is taking us.
One of the few things I remember about my confirmation several decades ago, was that the prayer of St Francis was one of the songs that was sung at the confirmation mass. It brought tears to my eyes that day, and it still does today. To me, the prayer of St. Francis is what Catholicism is really about. It is what Christianity is all about. It is the example that I devoted my life to then, and continue to devote my life to living now.
It only takes one voice to change the world. ONE! One person, one time to choose to respond with peace instead of hate to a situation. Any situation. We are so close to critical mass of peace now, so close, ...
What if, that one voice is something as simple as a smile, or a good morning, or a choice to bless the driver in front of us instead of cursing them for being (whatever). What if all it would take would be one moment in one day to remember the prayer of St. Francis, and put it into action.
What if that one voice is ours, invoking a Master's Prayer for peace today.
It only takes one, just one, one voice to change the world.
Carl
Update: These were posted on Yahoo News after I first posted this blog:
"McCain was booed by his own supporters Friday when ... he described the Democrat as a "decent person"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081011/ap_on_el_pr/mccain_angry_crowds
"There is also the belief that taking out Obama is the only way to win."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20081010/pl_politico/14445;_ylt=Am_BSfsNfQM6GHzDFAszHTJh24cA
Carl, St. Francis is my favorite Saint and that is the best prayer ever. My name is Frances and I always thought of him as my patron Saint. If one really tries to put his prayer into practice, one finds that it takes a lot of practice at first, but then becomes natural.
ReplyDeleteThis hate stuff is dreadful and a terrible example of blindness by the hierarchy. I've been doing research on the internet on Pope Pius XII, Pacelli, in Germany. I've been reading all about the different political parties that existed prior to Hitler coming to power. It is interesting that a cleric, Ludwig Kaas, a member of the Centre Party, a Catholic organization, helped Hitler out by voting for The Enabling Act, which enabled Hitler to end democracy in Germany with unfettered control to do whatever he wanted for four years. The SPD and the Communist voted against it. After signing the Enabling Act the SS rounded them up and sent them to their death in work camps. That is what HATRED does. It allows a Priest to vote for something right next to the devil himself, because the Church gets something out of the deal. That is it in essence from what I have read. BTW Pacelli was good friends with Ludwig Kaas. Kaas was a professor prior to going into politics, so was Pacelli I believe. What's up with these professors in the Church with expertise in Canon Law and ruining democracy?
Re: Kaas "In 1919 he was elected to the National Assembly and in 1920 to the Reichstag, of which he was a member until 1933. He was also elected to the Prussian state council, the representation of Prussia's provinces. As a parliamentarian Kaas specialized in foreign policy. From 1926 to 1930 he was a German delegate to the League of Nations."
"Ludwig Kaas died in Rome in 1952, aged 70. He was first buried in the cemetery of Campo Santo in the Vatican. Later, Pope Pius XII ordered the body of his friend to be put to rest in the crypt of St. Peter's Basilica. " Source: Wikipedia
I think that the Church is so concerned about politics and what it wants and so they miss the bigger picture, the bigger evil and how they are used by politicians, even Hitler, even Bush, even McCain. They either don't connect the dots, or they are just stupidly & selfishly evil.
I think that Benedict always talking about making Pope Pius XII a Saint is really about his own narcissism and identification with PPXII than in PPXII really deserving sainthood. He just doesn't cut it next to someone like St. Francis, who no one has any doubt was truly a real Saint.
Great post, Carl! It dovetails very much with what I posted on my Bilgrimage blog yesterday--an open letter to the U.S. Catholic bishops asking them to speak out about the hate rhetoric. It really frightens me, opening that door to hatred.
ReplyDeleteTaking time to focus on the Prayer of St. Francis brought tears to my eyes, and hope to my heart.
ReplyDeleteOpen on my desk beside me is a book titled The Cultural Creatives, and it's talking about the Freedom Movement, and the power of love, non-violent upholding of justice to make significant changes. I affirm that for us today.