The Power of a Friend's Words

St. Francis wrote about how his father would treat him when he would return to his home town. As he would approach the town his father would come out and curse him publicly ... in these times he explained what he would do. He would bring a friend with him and told him the following:

""When my father hurls curses and abuse at me, I will hear them painfully in one ear, but I ask you to walk on my other side, and whisper God's favor into my other ear. 'Franics, you are my beloved son. You are a son of heaven and a son of God!' Just keep repeating it until I can believe it again!"