Fr. Richard OMOLADE

St. Francis of Assisi lived a long time ago, yet his deeds continue to inspire. Apart from the beautiful story about St. Francis of Assisi, which has been turned into great movies, by far the most influential legacy we have received from this noblest of saints is the Prayer for peace. Before we examine this beautiful prayer, it is important to go through it again. “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.  O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. 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.”

It has been said that prayer is our communication with our God where we pour out to him our concerns knowing that he listens and hears us. In the prayer for peace of St. Francis, the opening invocation is evocative of our belief that God is our God and is in charge of our life, hence we call upon him. By submitting ourselves to him and begging him to make us instrument of peace. We indicate that we are his subjects, and ready to work for his values. What we want to establish is not ours, it is God’s and has always been God’s gift, the gift of peace. After more than eight hundred years, the world is still in need of peace. With wars in many hearts, how will peace flood our homes? With unfulfilled desires in our hearts and in many nations, where would the seed of peace germinate and grow? No wonder, societies are in turmoil, nations are at war and peace is still elusive. We have to get to the basics.

Going to the basics means concreting living,  doing good instead of evil, hence the prayer says, “where there is hatred, let me sow love.” Love is a beautiful garden that gladdens our hearts and where we love to be, but the seeds have to be planted, one seed at a time and nurture to bloom into nice flowers. We are not doing enough planting and nurturing; we are stuck on our desires – we want but not ready to work for it. So, the prayer is very timely.  Lot has not taken firm root because we continue to keep score of wrong when we should forgive and move on. Hence we also pray, where there is injury, pardon. Yes, we need pardon, we need to pardon and be pardoned. Our experiences may fill us with doubt but the pray is not about us, it is about what God can cause to happen and if we have faith, we will trust him.  So, we tell him to help plant faith where there is doubt and hope where there is despair.  In the right, life is beautiful, hence we ask to be used to bring light into the darkness of the world. What a glorious spectacle awaits us. There is no way that sadness will not give way to joy.  Joy is so much needed today because we cannot live without it.  A life devoid of joy is already hell on earth. St. Francis saw all these in his days and wanted a world filled with love, faith, hope and joy. He did not just experience it, he shared it with others and helped others to become instruments to share these virtues with the world.

 

 

What is the way forward?  Personal renewal and transformation of life is necessary “O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek… yes, we must put to death our selfish desires to be the centre of the world, where we wait for others to serve us, be at our beck and call and do everything for us. Truth be told, the world owes us nothing after creation, but we are indebted to the world and those who live in it, hence we must seek not to be consoled but to console, not to be understood, but to understand, not be loved but to love because if we put love where we have not found it, soon there will be no place where love would not be found. The reversal being asked for in this prayer is nothing but deliverance. We have become slaves to many things and have not been free to enjoy the goods God has in store for us. The freedom and the liberty of the children of God is there but first we must learn to forgive so that just as we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, we might also be forgiven. This is one of the things we must give to those around us so that together we all may be enriched. Indeed, unless a grain of wheat falls and dies, it remains a single grain, until we die to self, to everything opposed to God, we cannot be born to eternal life. There is no alternative to this reversal. It is setting free that opens us to the world of peace and joy. Let’s make the prayer ours today and for always.