Today marks the beginning of Holy Week—a sacred journey of reflection, humility, sacrifice, and ultimately, resurrection. And as I enter this week, I find myself returning to a prayer that meant so much to my mother:
The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi.

It wasn’t just something she quoted. It was something she lived.
It was part of her mantra, a prayer that shaped her presence, her leadership, and her quiet strength.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love…

She embodied these words—choosing love, hope, light, and joy even when the world gave her every reason to choose otherwise. Whether she was advocating for students, comforting grieving families, or leading in rooms where her presence broke barriers, she moved with the intention to console, to understand, and to love.

This prayer reminds me that peace isn’t passive. It’s an active calling.
And as Holy Week begins, I ask myself:
How can I be an instrument of peace in my own life, my own community, my own calling?

Mama would want that to be our posture—not just this week, but every day.
To forgive.
To bring light.
To plant hope.
To love first.

So today, I carry her prayer in my heart—not as a whisper from the past, but as a living call for the present.

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.

Amen.

In love and charity,

Giselle (aka) Blooming-lillie