
Lent with St. Francis: On Our Own
One of the iconic moments in Francis’s life was when he stood before the bishop and people of Assisi and stripped not only of the clothing that belonged to his father, but of his very identity as his father’s son.
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One of the iconic moments in Francis’s life was when he stood before the bishop and people of Assisi and stripped not only of the clothing that belonged to his father, but of his very identity as his father’s son.

God calls his people to repentance. At the same time, the Lord expresses his willingness to forgive. God is willing to forgive us if we are willing to abandon our sins.

What the psalms began to teach me is to stay true to my human grief, to articulate it, to bring the fear and frustration straight to God.

Jesus reserved his harshest words in the Gospels for those who thought they were spiritually superior to others.

In today reading Daniel prays in the name of the people. They are ashamed of what they have done. Yet they know that God is compassionate and forgiving.

That is what holy moments always feel like: I am great beyond belief and I am a little dot in the universe. This experience only needs to happen once, just as it did for Peter, James, and John.

The transfiguration was an extraordinary moment. Such moments don’t happen very often. But when they do, they change everything.

You are to love with the same kind of love that God loves you, which is total unconditional love. This is the summit and goal of all Jesus’ moral teaching, and we cannot possibly follow it apart from divine union.

The need for peace and understanding is as great in our time as it was during the Crusades, and sometimes as little valued.

After little Jacinta Marto became ill, the Blessed Virgin asked if she was willing to suffer further to convert more souls. Jacinta said she was—and did.