There was a period of time in my life when I attended a Christmas retreat every year on the last weekend before Christmas. It was a chance to escape the rat race and hectic schedule of the holiday season and get get back to the grassroots of family, friends and society. It was hosted at a local Jesuit monastary which is on the outskirts of Toronto. Although this is basically a Catholic institution and I am not Catholic, I was made very welcome and was invited to participate in ceremonies that are typically closed to non-Catholics. It was there that I first heard the Prayer of St. Francis and so I refer to it as my Christmas Prayer. Merry Christmas to all.
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.
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.