monday of the second week in lent

​​Date: Monday, February26
Contributor: Barb Hovey
Lectionary Link  https://www.lectionarypage.net/WeekdaysOfLent/MondaySecondWeek.html 
 
In today’s Gospel reading, Luke quotes Jesus as giving instruction not to judge or condemn others but to offer forgiveness. This made me think of the Prayer of St. Francis. I found that this prayer was probably written around 1912 and published in a French Catholic book of devotions. It became attributed to St Francis because the devotional was published by the Franciscan order of the Catholic Church.
 
This prayer for peace has become a favorite prayer for many. Both Mother Teresa and Desmond Tutu said it was part of their daily devotions. I would like to offer this prayer as a Lenten reflection.
 
Lord make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we 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.