by Nadia Ramoutar MMM Communications Coordinator                          Ireland           18.04.2026           

It’s easy to be faithful when life is going well, but what happens when things are challenging and we don’t like what we see going on in the world?  It is harder to have any kind of faith at these times.  What can we do when the world seems to be going in the wrong direction and peace seems very far from us?  It’s certainly not easy.

The Peace Prayer of St. Francis is one of my favourite prayers and one that I turn to in hours of challenge:

Lord make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred,
Let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is error, truth;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, Joy.

As famous a prayer as this prayer is – it’s history is quite surprising.  It first appeared around the year 1915 A.D., which is almost 700 year after St Francis’ death.  So why call the prayer after him?  According to Father Kajetan Esser, OFM, expert on St. Francis’s writings, this Prayer is most certainly not one of the writings of St. Francis.  It does however convey the spirit of the great man who inspires us still.  It did first appear as World War I was beginning, and then became very popular as the “Great War” spread.  The war gave rise to the prayer’s presence.

Here we are over a century later facing wars still.  It seems as if humans do not learn the true cost of war.  In the darkest and hardest times I find myself clinging to the words “Make me an instrument of your peace.”  If feels more like a plea than a prayer.  I don’t know if there is ever a winner in war, but I do know that when we take on hatred and fear into our heart we are most definitely lost.

As we continue to journey into unknown times where global decisions seem to take us further from the peace we crave, we find ourselves in a delicate state.  In truth, we have to say how fragile it all makes us feel.  We have to dig deep to find the courage to believe in hope.  To realise that the whole point of faith is perhaps to guide us through these darker times so we cannot just believe light will return but we can bring the light to one another now.

The gospel implores us not to turn to hatred but instead to “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).  This is in fact the greatest challenge to any faith and we have lots of reason to practice such a challenge.