Also read – Thomas Celano – First life of St. Francis
Scripture: Exodus 17:3–7; Psalm 95:1–2, 6––9; Romans 5:1–2, 5–8; John 4:5–42 Oremus Bible Browser
“Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work.’”
—John 4:34
Our relationship with God is based on a covenant that cannot be broken. We have a divine calling that we must answer, no matter what our fate may be.
A young man named Francis had a dramatic transformation in his life. He fought in a war against Perugia, but he was taken prisoner and spent a year in captivity. He returned home with a disease that confined him to bed for another year. After he healed, he roamed the countryside, praying in abandoned churches, walking in the woods and on the slopes of Mount Subasio, staying in caves where he listened to the silence and then to God’s voice.
Many saints have met God in their sickness. A serious illness makes us face our mortality and rethink our values. Francis had dreamed of being a knight, a warrior, to perform great deeds in battle. When he lost that chance, he had to decide whether to live in despair or to follow God’s plan for him.
Prayer
You are our everlasting life,
Majestic and wonderful Lord,
God almighty,
Gracious Savior.
Amen.
Adapted – Source:
March 7, 2021
Diane M. Houdek
Franciscan Spirit Blog
www.franciscanmedia.org. (2021). Lent with St. Francis: God’s Plan for Us | Franciscan Media. [online] Available at: https://www.franciscanmedia.org/franciscan-spirit-blog/lent-with-st-francis-gods-plan-for-us/ [Accessed 5 Mar. 2024].
Context
1199-1200 Civil war rages in Assisi, a city intent on independence from both papal and imperial power; nobility flee to the city of Perugia, Assisi’s arch-rival
1202 Francis fights in a battle between Assisi and Perugia, is captured and imprisoned in Perugia
1203 Francis’s father ransoms him; Francis endures a long illness
1204 Late: Sets out to participate in a crusade; en route, a vision directs him to return home to seek God’s will
Joanne Schatzlein, O.S.F., is congregation administrator at Sisters of Saint Francis of Assisi in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Copyright © 1994 by the author or Christianity Today/Christian History magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Christian History.
Schatzlein, J. (1994). Francis of Assisi 1181-1220: Christian History Timeline. [online] Christian History | Learn the History of Christianity & the Church. Available at: https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-42/francis-of-assisi-1181-1220-christian-history-timeline.html.