Week two of Ordinary time

by Noah McLaren

Our second meditation comes from a local worship pastor, Noah McLaren, with the help of St. Francis of Assisi.

The Sabbath is not only a day of rest. It is also a day of reordering. It was established by God, planted at the beginning of our seven-day lives, to call us back to the center. On the Sabbath day God calls to us, his beloved children,

“Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

In the midst of this deadly and confusing pandemic, as the demon of racism rears its head again in America, it is easy to lose hope. Even in the midst of that, Jesus Christ is on the throne. 

Rest assured, Jesus is working. He is calling us to work alongside him. But where is he working? Where shall we go?

St. Francis prayed that God would send him toward pain, hatred, and despair, so that God might work through him to bring healing, reconciliation, and gladness. As you rest on this Sabbath day, we invite you to listen to “Lord, Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace” and make Francis’ prayer your own.

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;

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.