This Franciscan Benediction/Blessing is an encouragement of what we should pray for. A lot of us want to follow God’s will for Justice, Freedom, and Peace among all people.
Though there is no historical basis that Saint Francis of Assisi was the author of this prayer, it exists in the Franciscan tradition based on the teachings and life of the saint.
We hope you will be encouraged by these words of blessing.
Franciscan Benediction
May God Bless You
May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that you will live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people so that you will work for justice, equality, and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you will reach out your hand to comfort them and change their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with the foolishness to think that you can make a difference in the world so that you will do the things which others tell you cannot be done.
May God Bless You
May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that you will live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people so that you will work for justice, equality, and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you will reach out your hand to comfort them and change their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with the foolishness to think that you can make a difference in the world so that you will do the things which others tell you cannot be done.
While this is counter-cultural to the feel-good prosperity sermon that is so popular today, and we are sure nobody pray like this, as the prayer mention Anger, Tears, Discomfort and Foolishness.
The question is, would you pray like this?