During Lent, if we forget everything else in our relationship with God, we need to remember that we are called into an unbreakable covenant with the Divine. Whatever our destiny, we must respond to the Lord’s call.
When St. Francis was in his early twenties, he rode off to battle against the nearby city-state of Perugia. He was captured and imprisoned for a year. He returned home sick and spent the next year virtually bedridden. When he recovered from his illness, he spent time simply wandering the area, praying in abandoned chapels, walking in the woods and on slopes of Mount Subasio, spending time in caves listening first to the silence and then to the voice of God.
St. Francis was not the first saint to have encountered God during an illness. There’s something about serious illness that forces us to confront our mortality and then to question our priorities. St. Francis had longed to be a knight, a soldier, to do great deeds on the field of battle. When he lost that opportunity, he had a choice between spending the rest of his life depressed at his ill fortune or listening to the plans God had for him.
Prayer
You are our eternal life,
Great and wonderful Lord,
God Almighty,
Merciful Savior.
Amen.
thank you for weekly sermons and all the work you do for people with addictions i myself have them by the grace of GOD one of them i have control of it ONE DAY AT A TIME
Thank you for the reminder “ God is in control.” My sister is stage 4 terminal cancer. We pray together everyday, read the Gospel, Homily and read Psalms. I have seen her become this humble woman that I had not seen in years. Being sick has brought closer to God in so many ways. Thank you for this story, I will be sharing it with her. Please pray for her “ Margie D.”
I welcome your rerflections and often find them more inspiring than the local homilies.
Thank you so much Fr. Bob. Your Reflections play a strong inspirational role in my spiritual journey. Karen
Fr you are succinct but so on the mark!Your weekly sermons truly inspire us as you enlighten us all year long to God’s gracious love and concern. Makes me grateful to have such a wonderful opportunity, especially in light of the turmoil the democrats are embroiling us in. It is reassuring to hear God is “still in control” which is evident in every sermon you write. Thank you for sharing these with us. I look forward to reading them every week.
It’s a beautiful reflection to read and touch
I love to read Fr. Bob’s homilies. They are truly inspiring.