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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Hi Deanna. It was great seeing you last night on the WINE Webinar “Everything’s Coming up Rosie” You have a beautiful spirit. Now that I am finally retired I have more time to look into all the wonderful resources that are available to build our faith. I truly enjoyed your Podcast and will be be a new follower of your inspiration!! I love St. Francis and I was drawn to him through The Prayer of St. Francis, you know “not that one”. 🙂 It became my everyday prayer and what I have tried to live by each day. Now that I am entering into this new phase of my life that above prayer of St. Francis is going to be my new prayer! Thank you for sharing it. About Grace, I tell my grandkids that they must fill their Grace tanks each day by praying and doing good for others. Like a car they need grace to carry on God’s work. God bless you Deanna and thank you for being a prayerful Intercessor with WINE!
Sue,
Thank you so much!!! WINE has been a blessing in my life. I like the Grace tank for your grandkids. Adults can use it too!
Thanks and Blessings for all you do with WINE.