amen

We ended the retreat after communion by reading together the well known prayer of Francis of Assisi. We'd like to keep doing that, though one of the guys said it was a little confusing, so we came up with a clearer version:

Lord,
make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring love;
where there is bitterness, let me bring forgiveness;
where there is doubt, let me bring faith;
where there is despair, let me bring hope;
where there is darkness, let me bring light;
and where there is sadness, let me bring joy.

O God,
let me not so much want to be comforted,
as to comfort others;
let me not so much want to be understood,
as to understand others;
let me not so much want to be loved,
as to love others.

For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in forgiving that we are forgiven,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.