Francis loses himself in God, in love. He gets lost in the greatness and goodness of his heavenly Father. Francis discovers that in getting 'lost' he finds himself in the right place, at the right time with the One Person who is above and beyond everyone and everything else. He finds the one that captivates His heart, mind, soul and body and finds bliss without end, experiences the true ecstasy of Divine love. Alleluia!
Francis was ecstatic when he prayed. It is inspiring to study Francis' exclamatory prayers because they give us insight into the relationship - a very intimate one - he had with God. Hopefully, in learning how Francis experienced God, we might deepen our own understanding and experience with our Heavenly Father.
"Almighty, most holy, most high and sovereign God, the sovereign good, everything that is good, wholly good, who alone are good: to You let us render all praise, all glory, all thanks, all honor, all blessing, and to You let us refer always whatever is good. Amen."
Francis approaches God in prayer, acknowledging first of all, that He is - Almighty. God is all-powerful and controls all things. He made all things and can do anything He pleases, everything He wants, since all power is His.
God is holy - separate from His creation, and so beyond anything we know in this world, this life, including us. He is clean, pure, perfect in His person and untouched by what is dark, ugly and base (characteristics of unrepentent humans). Nor can we ever hope to make our souls good or achieve righteousness (except through His grace and the power of His Holy Spirit).
God is high in that we cannot understand Him. He is profoundly sublime in His uniqueness and so great, magnificent and wonderful that our minds cannot grasp Him. (Though, through His creation, we are able to get some indication of His power, intelligence, goodness and love).
God is sovereign in that He rules over all and everything is subject to Him. He controls and sustains the smallest atom as well as the whole universe and all of the power contained in them. Every law of nature was written by Him and, if it pleases Him, can be 'unwritten' by Him. All things must do His will and nothing can resist or challenge Him (unless He permits it).
Everything Francis says at the beginning of this prayer is reasonable and good - albeit a bit formal. However, as he continues, we can see how his interactions with God inflame his soul until it is overwhelmed by the goodness and love of His Father. He knows His Father in heaven is present, accepting his prayer and his person, lovingly and with joy. That is why, suddenly but seamlessly, Francis begins to talk to God more like a child might with it's Father - with great passion hard for words to even contain!
Francis talks about God being the sovereign goodness - the good above all good things in life, in the world. He is the good that rules over all that is good and puts the essence of goodness within those good things. God is wholly good - there is no trace of bad within Him since He is all Light and everything wonderful. Finally, God alone is what is good. In all truth there is NO good thing besides or outside of God Himself. Jesus said, "Why do you call me good since God alone is good?!"
Since God is the supreme good He should be the focus of all our desire. God is the MOST important person in the universe and nurturing our relationship with Him is the MOST important thing we can do in life. He also, alone, is the One who can fill our lives and hearts with sublime sweetness, supreme joy, perfect and overwhelming love so . . . why wouldn't we want to make Him our first and foremost delight (priority) as Francis did!?
Let us give our loving Father all praise for, in His person, He is all that is good and it is good to affirm and celebrate that which is most wonderful! Let us give Him all glory since all glory is His by right for He acted in the most amazing way when He created all things good and made them all good again through His sacrifice on the cross. Let us give Him all thanks for, after all, He did all of this for us and we owe Him praise for all the good we have received. It is only reasonable to thank Him for it all. Let us give God all honor for who is more honorable, decent, so deserving of respect and esteem? And let us wish Him all blessing for it is to Him who is so good, so selfless and generous, that all happiness, joy and peace belong.
But, after the above, where can Francis go in his praise of God?! Hasn't he exhausted himself in praising and thanking God?! Francis reminds himself (and us as well!) that God's goodness is His own. He is the source of it and He generously gives it to all creation, especially humanity. It is only right that we refer all goodness we find in creation and life back to Him who made it all.
However, since God deserve ALL thanks is it wrong to thank human beings? Thanks should go first and foremost to God. When we thank a person we should first acknowledge God who gave that person the ability to be good - made that person good. (We can do this by quietly saying a prayer within ourselves). Only then should we thank the person, acknowledging their willingness to allow the goodness of God to rest within them and flow through them. Thereby, we affirm both God and the person and do so in the right order.
The important thing for Francis was to recognize at all times that God not only exists, but is present here and now, with us. He wanted to always be aware that God is the source of all goodness and therefore, wanted to always feel gratitude in his heart toward Him and express this gratitude in thanks, always. Finally, in appreciation of God's generosity and kindness he wanted to always allow His goodness to flow through him to all men, for he knew this is what pleased God. His hope was that, in being good to everyone, he might compel all men to praise, thank and love God with all of their hearts and know the supreme joy of being able to do so. Alleluia!
PRAYER: Father in heaven, help us to truly see You, truly know You and love You with all of our hearts. You are, truly, all that is good and it is our loss if we do not recognize this fact and settle for anything else - those lies that promise so much and give so little. Francis, pray for us that we might always feel grateful, always appreciate God's goodness to us and always render Him the praise and thanks that He deserves. Be exalted forever dear Lord God and may our lives be a true reflection of the goodness You have poured within us. Alleluia!
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