St. Francis

We celebrate St. Francis on October 4. He was the founder of the Franciscan Order and embraced the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. The prayer below is a favorite of mine!

Prayer before the Crucifix

Most High, glorious God, enlighten the darkness of my heart and give me true faith, certain hope, and perfect charity, sense and knowledge, Lord, that I may carry out
Your holy and true command. Amen.

Grace

• underserved gift or help freely and lovingly provided by God, but above all the utterly basic gift of being saved in Christ through faith, a grace that God wishes to give all human beings
• Brings us new birth and gift of the Holy Spirit
• Makes us a new creation
• Transforms human nature
• Anticipates a future in heaven

from A Concise Dictionary of Theology, O’Collins and Farrugia, S.J.

What does a parking lot have to do with grace? Listen and you’ll find out!

Types of Grace

• Sacramental – the graces we receive through the sacraments
• Efficacious – Grace offered by God and freely accepted
• Sanctifying or Habitual – being made holy by the Holy Spirit, always with us; God sharing his divine life with us
• Actual – a specific grace supplied for a particular need or reason
• Special – also called charisms, which we are given to help build up the Church

Why do we need Grace?

• it helps us respond to God’s call to be his
• It gives us an awareness of sin and the ability to avoid it
• to live out our daily life, as each of us is individually called to do
• Takes our natural gifts, makes them more usable and to the service of God and others

What are the effects of Grace?

HOLINESS! And we all want to be a bit holier, right?

This week, pray St. Francis’ prayer above.

Interested in having me speak to your group? Let me know; I’d love to come in person or virtually!

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