Before anything 'was' there was God. He is unchanging in time and space and will be the One that is left when all things have faded (burned) away. He made all things for Himself and all things exist only because He wants them to exist. He made man for Himself and this is why man finds his ultimate fulfillment in God - in knowing God and living according to God's will. Adam was made for God, first and foremost. Man's ultimate responsibility is to 'love God with all of His heart, soul, mind and body.'
Francis knew all of this as he said this prayer : "Almighty, eternal, just, and merciful God, have us poor wretches for Your sake do what we know You want, and have us always want whatever is pleasing to You. So that cleansed interiorly, and interiorly enlightened and aglow with the fire of the Holy Ghost, we may be able to follow the footsteps of Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Aided by Your soul-saving grace may we be able to get to You, who in perfect Trinity and simple Unity live and reign and triumph as God Almighty, world without end. Amen."
How does one approach GOD in prayer?! Francis shows us that he did so with great awe. GOD IS ALMIGHTY - can do anything that He wants. GOD IS ETERNAL - living before time, outside of time, but able to interact with us in time. GOD IS JUST - one who knows and always does what is right. He will ultimately judge, condemn and destroy what is wrong because He hates all injustice. However, He does put up with the sin in us because . . . He is GOD, EVER MERCIFUL .
"Free-will" implicit in Francis' prayer. We've all heard about 'free will' and about 'selling our soul', but what do these terms really mean? Our 'Free will' is a 'gift' from God that He will never take away from us. Nor can anyone or anything else take it from us. However, it is possible to give up your free will (to 'sell your soul') - for substances (alcohol, cigarettes, food and drugs,), for people (sex, 'love', fame, friendship) and for things (money and all it can buy). We sell our soul when we give greater importance in our lives to people, things or experiences than we do to God.
Selling our souls happens when we choose the wrong (sinful) thing, over and over again, throughout our lives. As we 'sell' our souls we find that we have less free will - our ability to choose becomes restricted. We can reach the point where we don't really have a choice - we MUST choose the alcohol, people, money or sensual pleasures. What is really terrifying is when we realize that we can't choose God and His ways - even though we want to - over these other things! We become like the rich young man who discovered he could not follow Jesus due to his love for his 'wealth' and turned from Jesus heart-broken. The scriptures tell us he went away " . . . greatly grieved . . ."
Addiction to alcohol presents a very clear example of the process of selling one's soul - losing one's free will. In my work as a probation officer I've talked to many recovering alcoholics who have told me, in so many words (a composite), the following story: "I started drinking because I wanted to have fun - enjoy life. But it got so that I enjoyed drinking so much that I was glad when there was any reason to 'blow it out'. After a while I began to look for excuses - until I was 'celebrating' all of the time.
"When my drinking began to affect my relationships I blamed the people. When it affected my work I argued with myself that alcohol was the only way for me to get through the 'boring' day! When I lost my jobs I rationalized by saying that my bosses were out to get me and that I didn't care about losing the 'lousy' job anyway. Getting in traffic accidents while under the influence, drunken fights with 'friends' and all kinds of other madness brought the police into my life on a regular basis.
"Even as I saw my life going down the toilet, I had no choice but to sit and watch it go - though it filled me with desperation and despair. I knew I wasn't calling the shots anymore - didn't have the choice NOT to choose alcohol. It was alcohol that had become my God - was what I lived for. Everyday my 'love' for alcohol trumped everything else - my self-respect, family, friends. Everyday I would swear that this was the 'last drink' but the last drink, most often turned out to be only the first for the day. I lost everything, including my health to my addiction and couldn't do a thing about it!"
It should be noted that the addict's situation is not hopeless. The disciples asked Jesus, after the rich young man had left, "Who can be saved then?" Jesus replied. "What is impossible for man is possible for God for with God all things are possible." An addict can regain his free will. It is a difficult struggle but it is possible to overcome one's addiction - if one wants it enough and draws on God's infinite power and goodness.
But wouldn't it be a good thing to give up your free will to God? Even if you wanted to you couldn't because God would refuse to accept it. He has 'redeemed' (purchased) our lives (with Jesus' sacrifice of His own life) but only to give us a new chance to choose what is good and right. However, we still have the right afterward, to reject Him and His offers to help us (though we would end up in the same pit that we just escaped from!)
Francis asks God twice to 'have' him do certain things and this makes it seem like Francis is trying to give up his free will. But we can see from his prayer, that God's will and Francis' will have become one. Francis chooses God's will as his own. God isn't taking control of Francis' mind (making him a spiritual zombie!) but merely helping him to know and do what is right. Although Francis is influenced by God he remains free to make his own choices.
Francis realized that, because he was a sinner - had proven time and again how foolish and wicked he was - he should look to the 'all knowing One' rather than relying on his own limited knowledge/experience. Our choices have brought us spiritual death, plunged our world into darkness and allowed evil to flourish on the planet and in our hearts. This is OUR doing, not God's.
We become "cleansed and enlightened" when we sincerely and fervently ask God to help us want what is right as well as guide us in doing what is good. One who is spiritually 'clean' and receives God's 'light' in his mind becomes pure (from sinfulness) and wise (able to think like God). Armed with this purity and wisdom we come to know how to "follow in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ." We are strengthened by God's grace in living that life of love that Jesus lived.
At the beginning of this post we learned that we were created by God for Himself and that our primary obligation in life is to God. This is the purpose for our life - to have a relationship with the living God, know and love Him, serve and please Him and exalt Him, forever. Francis concludes his prayer by focusing on this very goal: knowing God intimately, powerfully. He said, "may we be able to get to You".
Are you 'selling your soul' for passing pleasures - daily surrendering your ability to choose what is good and right and squandering your opportunities to please Him and receive His blessings? Do you want to be "cleansed interiorly and interiorly enlightened" so as to reach the Source of all goodness? It is your choice!
It is clear what choice Francis made - and what joy he experienced as a result!Let us follow Francis' example and come to know God, the real source of ultimate happiness! He ". . . who in perfect trinity and simple unity live and reign and triumph as God Almighty, world without end. Amen!"
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