Tuesday - August 12, 2025
SCRIPTURE
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Isaiah 24:1-13
See, the Lord is going to lay waste to the earth
and devastate it;
he will ruin its face
and scatter its inhabitants—
it will be the same
for priest as for people,
for the master as for his servant,
for the mistress as for her servant,
for seller as for buyer,
for borrower as for lender,
for debtor as for creditor.
The earth will be completely laid waste
and totally plundered.
The Lord has spoken this word.
The earth dries up and withers,
the world languishes and withers,
the heavens languish with the earth.
The earth is defiled by its people;
they have disobeyed the laws,
violated the statutes
and broken the everlasting covenant.
Therefore a curse consumes the earth;
its people must bear their guilt.
Therefore earth’s inhabitants are burned up,
and very few are left.
The new wine dries up and the vine withers;
all the merrymakers groan.
The joyful timbrels are stilled,
the noise of the revelers has stopped,
the joyful harp is silent.
No longer do they drink wine with a song;
the beer is bitter to its drinkers.
The ruined city lies desolate;
the entrance to every house is barred.
In the streets they cry out for wine;
all joy turns to gloom,
all joyful sounds are banished from the earth.
The city is left in ruins,
its gate is battered to pieces.
So will it be on the earth
and among the nations,
as when an olive tree is beaten,
or as when gleanings are left after the grape harvest.
WORDS OF HOPE
We often turn to the Bible when we are in need of comfort, reassurance, and hope. The
above passage from Chapter 24 of Isaiah offers none of those things. This passage
tells of a God who is going to lay waste to the earth, scattering its inhabitants, and
turning joy to gloom. This will be done because people have disobeyed the laws and
they must bear the guilt. And, no human will be spared, regardless of their position in
society.
This is one of those passages that is intended to show us the duality of God…and the
duality that we as Christians also should have…the balance between the active and the
contemplative, the inward and the outward manifestations of our faith life. They reveal
that God sometimes gets angry and we too may need to act through righteous anger at
times.
As a Franciscan, the words of the prayer inspired by St. Francis nourish and guide my
daily contemplative life…
Peace Prayer
“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;
where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”
These words speak to the inward, the contemplative side, of our faith. St. Francis
certainly had his times of inward reflection, but much of his lived faith was a also a very
outward and active one. He preferred to be amongst the poor, the disenfranchised, the
sick, the lonely, even the non-believers.
So how do we pray about our active life of life? How do we pray about our righteous
anger?
I recently saw a prayer written in the style of the familiar prayer above that addresses
the more active side of our faith, a “reverse” prayer of St. Francis, a prayer that calls for
us to create disturbances in the name of God. These words are attributed to Rina
Wintour and Pat Levercombe:
Disturbance Prayer
“Lord, make me a channel of disturbance.
Where there is apathy, let me provoke.
Where there is compliance, let me bring questioning.
Where there is silence, let me be a voice.
Where there is too much comfort and too little action, grant disruption.
Where there are doors closed and hearts locked, grant me the willingness to listen.
Where laws dictate and pain is overlooked…
Where tradition speaks louder than need…
When we refuse to take control of our spiritual growth…
Our own mission…
Our own poor…
Disturb me, O Lord,
Teach me to be radical.
O Divine Master,
Grant that I may seek to DO justice rather than talk about it,
To be WITH as well as for the poor,
To love the hard-to-love as well as the lovely,
To kiss the children of the poor rather than the feet of the crucifix.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in walking-with that we truly understand.
It is in challenging evil that we achieve justice.
It is in the struggles of life that we touch eternity.
Lord, make me a channel of disturbance.”
God calls us sometimes to peace and calmness and at other times to dissatisfaction
and even anger, to times of creating disturbances. These two sides to God are shown
to us throughout Scripture.
PRAYER
Lord, grant me the wisdom to know when you need me to be a channel of peace and
when you need me to be a channel of disturbance. Amen.
DEVOTION AUTHOR
Kris Baker
Order of St. Francis and St. Clare
Need Some Inspiration? Read our Daily Devotions
