A Prayer On The Feast Day Of St. Francis Of Assisi

A Prayer on the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi

October 4

O God who cares for all creatures,

Big and small,

We come to You on this day

And reflect on the life of St. Francis of Assisi,

Who, along with so many others

In our broad lineage of faith,

Has gone before us as a living example

Of gospel transformation.

O Lord who was present in the bird’s song

And the wind’s breeze

Thousands of years ago

And still is today,

We ask that our children

Will choose Your paths of peace

And renounce the allure

Of what our world says brings peace—

Wealth, prosperity, prestige—

Instead choosing, like Francis,

To find You in the nature and animals

You breathed into being.

May our children be rooted in Your truth,

Not quick to float away

On the promises of a quick and easy life

When many of Your people live in poverty.

Help our children as they grow.

May they continually imagine life

Through the lens of Your gospel of peace

And Your law of love.

Give our children eyes to see the world

As You do, Lord.

Give them eyes to see You in all Your creation.

May our children be gentle with animals.

May they be gracious with Your land.

May they be generous with people’s souls.

And like Francis, may they hold their worldly wealth

With open hands, willing to give it all up

For the sake of the poor and vulnerable.

May our children never lose sight

Of the Good News

Even as they see the bad.

Help us raise our children

To know that true courage

Comes not in being a savior

But in living a life

Rooted in the outstretched compassion

Of Jesus Christ, our Savior.

In the legacy of St. Francis,

May our children be peacemakers,

Walking humbling with the Lord.

May they cling to awestruck wonder

At a falling acorn.

May they see Your fingerprints

In the fluttering wings of a butterfly

And the intricate designs of a spider’s web.

May our family live in service to Your church,

Holding on to the faith of a child

That so many of us lose,

Replacing awe of creation

With logic and reason.

We pray for humility

And for spaces in this loud world

Where our children might sit under a tree

Or rest their heads in the grass

To watch stories unfold in the shapes of the clouds,

To quiet their bodies and souls

To be with You.

Our world is full of noise,

And it feels so upside down to pray

For contemplative, creative spirits

In our children,

But Lord, this is what we need.

O Lord, all the animals and plants

And skies and seas

Reveal Your glory

Above us and below us and among us;

Show us Your handiwork.

Thank You for women and men of faith

Like St. Francis,

For their lives lived long ago

Remind us to walk with our family

Along Your ways.

Psalm 121; Galatians 6:1-18