Victor NarroFrancis of Assisi (1181-1226) was a peace maker and activist who lived a life of evangelical poverty, humility and peacemaking during the most violent years of the Middle Ages. Francis chose a radical life of caring for the poor through his acts of love and humility where he lived among lepers, the homeless, and others that were neglected by society. The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi (most widely known as Peace Prayer) is the one that is most attributed to Francis of Assisi’s teachings and daily living. This piece is my reflections on each passage of this prayer based on how I have integrated the teachings of Francis of Assisi into my daily work for immigrant rights and worker justice during the past 35 years. My hope is that after reading my reflections, social justice lawyers, organizers, and other activists will be inspired to explore ways to integrate their spirituality or religious faith into their work for justice.
Lord, make me an instrument of your Peace.
The work for justice is about striving for the higher good. It is about finding the goodness in yourself and in others, and moving forward together towards a society that realizes the higher good – justice, peace, equality. Francis of Assisi teaches us that we are instruments of justice on a daily basis. We strive to find peace in ourselves that connects with peace in others, which then brings about peace in our community. The work for peace brings healing and joy to ourselves and to others. This is interconnectedness. We should strive for a state of selflessness, a letting go of our ego-centered self, and selfish wants and desires. We do the work for justice as a life choice – a life trajectory. The work for justice is a calling from the higher good and activists heed that call by becoming instruments for a life peacemaking and service to others.
Where there is hatred let me sow peace;
Francis perceived hate and anger as strong emotions and feelings that sometimes overwhelm and dominate us and others. Hate and anger can consume and destroy the mental, emotional and physical health of oneself and others. Hate and anger leads to committing unjust and harmful acts. As activists, we must learn to embrace feelings of hate and anger, and use peace and joy to transform them. This is the activist response to transforming anger and hate. As the late Austrian psychotherapist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl once famously said, “Between a stimulus and a response, there is a space. It is within that space that you find your growth and development.”
where there is injury let me sow forgiveness;
Francis of Assisi best exemplified unconditional love and unconditional forgiveness. These are two values or attributes we must all strive towards in our work for justice. These two values are at the fundamental core of the spirituality of nonviolence. When you forgive someone, you are not forgetting or excusing the act that caused you a harm or injustice. You are not pardoning or condoning the act. To forgive is powerful. It is an act of courage. You decide to no longer hold anger or bitterness towards that person. It is an act of liberation because you are no longer bound by the anger that the person caused you to hold. Anger and bitterness towards a person can lead to personal hate, which will always destroy your mind, body and soul. You no longer have to relive the incident and anger. Forgiving someone does not mean that you have to reconnect with that person. Many times, it may not be wise to do so. It simply means that you no longer hold the person in your negative thoughts filled with anger and bitterness. It is your healing moment and bringing justice to yourself. A forgiving heart is important in the work for justice.
where there is doubt let me sow faith;
Trust is important in the work for justice. We must dismantle self-criticism and self-judgment in ourselves and towards others. When we are self-critical and doubt ourselves, we cause injustice to ourselves. Self-doubt and self-criticism prevent us from being the best that we can be in the work for justice. Francis had to trust the voices inside him telling him to seek a new life rooted in the teachings of the Gospel. He trusted his inner voice to choose this path and to guide him. He trusted God. With all the doubts and attacks from those around him and the ridicule that he faced, he trusted himself and this new journey. Much in the same way, we must trust that there is a higher good we must work towards, and the work for justice is the path towards it. We must embrace that the life of working for justice is the path and the journey to the higher good. We must embrace the failures, setbacks, and challenges in our daily work, and trust that the path will always take us to creating justice for ourselves and others.
where there is despair let me give hope;
Francis teaches us that much of our daily work is about the fragility of life, and not knowing what is going on or what will happen next – but in the end relying on our inner strength to believe that Life is inherent in everyone we help. Hope is coming to an awareness of the reality of a situation or outcome. Hope helps us bring empathy and compassion into a situation where someone or some group is in despair. We need empathy in our work, and lots of it. It is what enables us to connect our hearts with the suffering of others – much like how Francis developed empathy for the lepers of his time. Empathy and compassion lead us to interconnectedness, which then brings forth hope.
where there is darkness let me give light;
Francis lived deeply in empathy and compassion. He knew they were the roots that nourish our interconnectedness with one another – our heart-to-heart connection. Empathy is our heart reaching out to the heart of someone in despair and sharing the suffering with them. It is our being wholly present – mind, heart, and soul – with someone who is suffering. When you feel empathy for another who is suffering, you become a wellspring of compassion. You don’t put yourself in that person’s situation. You look at that person’s situation from their eyes, their perspective. Your activist deeds become a shining light for those around you who find themselves in darkness. As Francis once said, “all the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the single flame of a candle.”
where there is sadness let me give joy.
Francis had a special affection for the joyful. So important to him for a true spiritual life was joy of spirit that he made it part of his rule for his brothers and sisters. Francis integrated his joy with service and compassion for others. Francis acquired his spiritual joy through acts of simplicity with love and compassion towards others in times of need and suffering. For Francis, it was important for his sisters and brothers to live this joy daily through both good and challenging times. We must embrace this joy in our work as activists whenever we are able to wake up in the morning and have another day to use our gifts and talents to do the work for justice. No matter what the day brings, the fact that we have a day to live out our purpose as activists is a simple reason to have joy in our hearts.
O Lord, grant that I may not try to be comforted but to comfort,
As activists, we are agents for peace. We are love and compassion. We give out love and compassion unconditionally. In providing love and compassion to those in need, we are providing love and compassion to ourselves. Francis warns us about the “false self” or our ego-centered self. For Francis, simplicity was needed to control the ego. Simplicity lies in where we place our hearts and how we shift from our ego-centered self to our core self where we can connect with our goodness. It is from this core self that we are able to serve and help others from a place of genuine love, and not from one of self-centeredness disguised as compassion. For Francis, simplicity becomes the soil in his spiritual garden from which his values can grow and develop. This virtue of simplicity that Francis teaches us enables us to see our work as less of an emphasis on individualism and self-gratification, and instead increase our awareness and connection with the lives of those in need and caring for their well-being.
not try to be understood but to understand;
The work for justice requires that we engage in daily active listening with our heart, which will then enable us to speak through compassionate and loving speech, especially during moments of anger, frustration, or fear. Really listening without judgment is a gift that we can give to each other to enhance our lives. There is no more precious a gift than to listen deeply to the words and feelings of another.
St. Francis was a strong voice in the nonviolent struggle for racial harmony and reconciliation. Francis lived in the political turmoil of the 13th Century “Holy Roman Empire,” locked in a culture of war as the empire united in a series of Crusades against Muslims. The Western portrait of Sultan al-Kamil was skewed by Crusader propaganda and lack of basic knowledge by Christian writers of Muslim society and faith. In Egypt, he was known for his tolerance toward the Christian minority. He was a cultured man who loved learned conversation with scholars in his court. Sultan al-Kamil was rooted in this spiritual belief of peace and compassion.
Francis embarked on a journey to meet with Sultan al-Kamil and deliver him his message of peace. Francis and his traveling companion, Friar Illuminato, crossed the treacherous battlefield and set foot on the outskirts of the Muslim camp. The Muslim soldiers seized them and took these two barefoot monks dressed in worn out patched brown tunics to appear before Sultan al-Kamil. When Sultan al-Kamil saw Francis’ enthusiasm and courage, he listened to him willingly and pressed him to stay with him. They spent almost four days together in mutual respect and understanding. Francis’ desire to share his spirituality and message of peace with the Sultan, without insulting Islam or refuting Mohammed, was unique and disarming. During that brief moment in history where Francis and Sultan al-Kamil were with one another, their dialogue turned into an embrace of each other as human beings driven by their religious belief for a higher good.
not try to be loved but to love.
During his time, Francis chose to be in the company of lepers in the leper colonies in the outskirts of the cities to provide them with healing and comfort. Whether it be in the company of the homeless, lepers, or others outcasted by society, Francis chose to live among them daily. Francis teaches us to find the humanity in every daily task or activity. Francis also teaches us to love ourselves and accept who we are as unique and special in the work for justice. Loving yourself is instrumental for the sake of loving others. They have to happen together. Francis saw love as a universal force that is in each of us and spreads throughout to create a thread that connects us. For Francis, we must tap into this universal love for ourselves. We cannot do the work for justice and loving others if we don’t have peace and love in our hearts.
Because it is in giving that we receive,
In the work for justice, Francis teaches us to approach the giving and receiving as one and the same. When we give with an expectation of receiving something in return – praise, recognition, a favor or ask—we shift from our genuine loving self to our ego-centered self. The moment of joy should be in the giving and the other person shares her joy in the receiving. They should become one in the same. The person giving and the person receiving share the same moment of joy that unites them both. Both of receiving and giving in that one special moment. For Francis, the giving and receiving must be unconditional. We are always in community in the work for justice. We give to one another, but we must also receive from one another. This is true solidarity in action.
it is in forgiving that we are forgiven,
As mentioned earlier, Francis teaches us that when you forgive someone, you are not forgetting or excusing the act that caused you a harm or injustice. You are not pardoning or condoning the act. To forgive is powerful. It is an act of courage. An unforgiving spirit blocks the flow of grace and mercy into our lives. It causes us to live in a stagnant state of regrets, animosities and grudges. Francis teaches us that forgiveness creates room in your heart for love and mercy, which are necessary for bringing peace in the world.
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Francis once said, “Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take nothing that you have received, but only what you have given: a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice, and courage.” The work for justice is never ending. Francis was rooted in servant leadership. For him, stepping back and out of the way for others to emerge as leaders of his movement was at the core of his leadership role. Francis worked daily not only to be in the service of others, but also to cultivate the next generation to lead his order. In our daily work for justice, we create an imprint in humanity that enables us to be present in the work for justice long after we depart this lifetime.
