INSTRUMENTS OF CHRIST: REFLECTIONS ON THE PEACE PRAYER OF SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI, by Albert Haase, O.F.M. St. Anthony Messenger Press (Cincinnati, 2004). 81 pp.

Reviewed by Mary Frances McCarthy
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 3/31/05)

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

This simple, four-line prayer has been embossed on countless prayer cards, set to music, embroidered on samplers and throw pillows, and revered by millions. Perhaps it is the prayer’s simplicity, perhaps it is the fact that the prayer is attributed to the beloved St. Francis (however, St. Francis did not write the prayer and it is unknown why the prayer is attributed to him). "Perhaps we pray it because consciously or subconsciously, we are only too aware that its words carry the entire weight of the teachings of Jesus," Franciscan Father Albert Haase’s says in his book, Instruments of Christ.

In it, he explains in 12 short chapters his interpretation of the prayer. Each chapter explores the meaning behind a single phrase of the prayer, building on the theme of Christians’ primary vocation as "little Christs."

"I wrote Instruments of Christ: Reflections on the Peace Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi for ordinary Christians like myself, who pray the peace prayer but do not always have the time to reflect upon its challenges and implications," Father Haase said in the introduction.

Stories from Father Haase’s own life along with stories related to him by his friends give examples of how the Peace Prayer can be put to practice. He often writes in the first and second person to emphasize what he or "you" can do to help sow Easter peace.

"Being an instrument of peace is not simply a passive, polite affair in which a person bites one’s tongue or refuses to speak up ‘in order to keep the peace,’" he writes. "I must also become a field hand — an active agent — who intentionally sows the seeds of peace in the world’s furrows of distress. I pray to be a peacemaker for others. … Though I might speak with the anger of a prophet, I never use violence or incite violence when working for peace. Easter peace is never bequeathed through a clenched fist or proclaimed through the barrel of a pistol."

Because of the brevity of the chapters, many of them only five or six pages long, the book can easily be an addition to prayer-time, whether it be read before or after Mass or during morning or nighttime prayers.

Each chapter concludes with questions for meditative reflection or group discussion.

Instruments of Christ can serve as both a wonderful introduction to the Peace Prayer, or as a way to remind someone who has prayed the prayer for years of the power and meaning of the simple words.

"The Peace Prayer reminds us to brighten the lives of others with godly actions that manifest our familial bonds as children of the loving God," Father Haase said.

Instruments of Christ is available at www.amazon.com and catalog.americancatholic.org/.