Born at the end of the 14th century, Frances of Rome desired to enter the consecrated religious life, but her parents convinced her to marry a young relative. She and her sister-in-law desired to have a lifestyle of prayer and helping the poor, and they did so with their husbands’ blessings. With time, she had children, but still reached out to the poor, especially in the time of a great plague in Rome. She and her sister-in-law used a lot of their financial resources to help the sick during the plague, to the point of opening part of her home to care for the sick and to begging door to door to ask others for help. She founded a society of women who reached out to the poor but who did not take consecrated religious vows. She continued to live with her husband until the time of his death, living the remainder of her life with the women of that organization and caring for the poor.
In our first reading today, the prophet Hosea offers a penitential prayer on behalf of the people. The people fear receiving punishment from God, as they feel abandoned by him. Hosea tells them that they must truly repent, that their repentance cannot be superficial.
As we hear the message from the prophet Hosea today and as we are presented the example of prayer and mercy in St Frances of Rome, may we continue our practice of our Lenten disciplines as we look at the ways God is calling us to repent and change and reach out to others.
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