Francis Wanted to Save Everything and Anything that Contained the Name of God.

Our father Francis had the profoundest respect and appreciation for the Name of God and the place where that Name is most honored, God's Word. God is the key to understanding all things - discovering the meaning, of all that is created. God made all things and made them all so wonderfully - with love, joy and profound beauty. All things find their fulfillment in God as did Francis. It is for these reasons (and many others!) that Francis loved the Name of God and reverenced it, above all things, in his words and actions.

Francis sought meaning in everything. He especially sought meaning in words (repositories of meaning) and specifically in Gods words. Francis plumbed the depth of meaning in God's Word and cherished the understanding that God gave him of them. He knew these Words had been passed from God to our spiritual ancestors, to pass on to us.

Francis OFTEN begged people to pick up 'stray writings' - pieces of paper which were discarded, mislaid or forgotten - since God's Name might be written on them. Francis feared that God's Name might be destroyed with those scraps of paper. Francis even requested his disciples to pick up stray writings that were pagan or heretical since God's Name might be on them!

Francis was questioned about his desire to save pagan writings. "Because the letters are there which spell the glorious Name of God our Lord. The good too, which is in them, does not belong to the pagans nor to any other human beings, but to God alone, Who is all that is good."

Francis saw everything in relation to God's eternal plans. After all, everything was made by God for a good and glorious purpose. After each day of creation, God, gazing at what He had made said, "It is good". Human life was the pinnacle of God's creation - since we were made in His image. That is why He said, after creating Adam and Eve, "It is good. It is very good!"

We can be sure that even the difficult and painful experiences we all have during our lives can bring us great blessings. If God wills (and if we cooperate with Him through faith) He can accomplish something truly good for us through them. St. Paul was talking about this when he said, "All things work together for good to those that love God, for those who are called according to His purposes". The best example we have of this is what happened in Passion week: even as the great evil in the heart of man was being revealed, the infinite goodness and love of God was also being revealed through Jesus' humble and loving sacrifice of Himself for us!

Francis' concerns about scraps of paper with God's Name written on them, from the world's perspective, might seem extreme. Francis explained that the 'letters are there which spell the Name of God our Lord'. The Name of God was, like all other 'things' of God, of paramount value and importance. Francis didn't need any other reason than the fact that the letters formed the Name of the Divine One to show respect and appreciation and want to protect them. The care he took was a small but serious indication of how much Francis loved God and cared for His Name.

Francis explained that there was something truly 'good' in God's Name and His Word. Francis was referring to this when he said, 'The good too, which is in them . . .'. God's Word, and of course the meaning of the word 'God', were all very good! The word 'God' channels the very goodness of our heavenly Father.

Francis explained that the Name and Word of God were precious, even when used by pagans and heretics since His Name 'does not belong to the pagans nor to any other human beings, but to God alone'. A heretic has a faulty understanding of God and His ways and may even use God's Name in an evil or hurtful way. However, since these Words are Gods Words, nothing these people do can change the goodness those Words contain.

Though God allows us to speak and otherwise handle His Words, it does not give us or anyone else the right to use them in a wrong way. After all these Words are God's and they are God's alone. No one has a claim to them besides God so even believers should see His Word as being a precious treasure that deserves our greatest respect, appreciation and care. That is why those God inspired to write down His Words made it clear that 'nothing is to be added and nothing taken away' from them. St. Paul told us that the message was given (in it's totality) 'to men once and for all'. He also encouraged St. Timothy to 'hold to the traditions passed down to you . . . and pass them on to reliable men'. St. Paul said that the Holy Spirit safeguards scripture and 'will lead you into all truth'. Jesus said, "The Holy Spirit will remind you of all I have taught you, bringing it to your remembrance'. We can see that God actively protects His Word so that, nearly 2,000 years after it was written down, it remains truly His, in all purity.

Jesus said, "There is no one good except God alone". Francis says something similar when he said about God that He 'is all that is good'. There are many good things in the world which are good because the good God made them. However, compared to God, all good things seem to lose their goodness since God is so beyond them in goodness. Only those who know God can know the true goodness of all things. Those who realize the goodness in things can get some sense of the infinitely great goodness of God since He put His own goodness within them.

It was God, His goodness and wonder, that Francis loved and celebrated. This goodness can be found in the Name of the One who is so good. This Name can be found in the Words of God - the scripture recorded in the Bible. Those who want to encounter this goodness and come to know the goodness of God, need only seek it in God's Word. Also, if in a pinch, all we need to do is call out the Name of God (Jesus), in our times of need and in times of joy, to realize that God Is (with us) and also that He deeply powerfully loves us. St. Paul said, "Those who come to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him".

Followers of Francis love God's Name and God's Word. They reverence the Name and celebrate it by living a holy and good life. Saving every scrap of paper that has God's Name written on it would be logistically impossible given our modern ability to print so much so quickly. However, like Francis, wherever we encounter the Name of God, we should at the least show our appreciation and give God thanks for all of blessings. St. Paul describes giving God thanks as 'our reasonable service' given the fact that He has done so much for us. Let us wonder at the Name of God and never fail to give Him thanks, worshipping Him with all of His creation and glorifying Him to the highest heavens. Alleluia!

PRAYER: Lord God, help us to reverence You and Your Name. Help us, whenever we come across Your name to recall that it points to You - a living person who is also God, glorious and exalted but ever so near. You are, after all, our very Father. Help us to realize, like Your servant Francis did, that You are not only good but the greatest good and that whatever is good gets its goodness from You. Help us to celebrate Your goodness in all things and in all the experiences of our lives - especially those that try our faith. Lord God, You are the God and Your Word truly expresses the wonder that You are. Help us Lord to see You and know You, to honor, praise and thank You and to come to a true and perfect understanding of You and Your love for us - in Your Words. Thank You for loving us so perfectly. Make us true followers of Francis who followed Your Son, Jesus, so whole-hearted throughout His life. Amen.