St. Francis knew the Psalms by heart, and those who followed him quickly did so too. They learned the Bible’s other most famous prayers and could pray them as they walked from place to place, reflecting on what God had accomplished through them in their previous location and preparing for what God might be asking from them in the next place.
Francis was as much subject to self-doubt as any of us. His motives were purified in prayer; his ego became right-sized there. His prayer was both private and public; one without the other tends to lead the person praying into some type of illusion. Instead, prayer leads us into deeper and more radical honesty while enabling us to deal with the consequences of any newfound honesty.
—from the book Peace and Good: Through the Year with Francis of Assisi
by Pat McCloskey, OFM
1 thought on “Radical Honesty”
I think whenever we Christians pray, we are acknowledging that God exists. Once we do that, then God can communicate with us in a way that is most appropriate for each of us individually, since everyone is different. But nevertheless, the more regular one’s prayer, the more effective it will be. Hence the necessity of attending Mass consistently, even if it’s only once a week.
Personally, I know that the more I pray, the more God can use me. The less I pray, then God backs off a little for whatever reason. Right now, my life seems to be coasting along just nicely until I reach my ultimate destination. At my age, I’m approaching the end the race called life. My sister thinks I’m only in the third quarter, but I suspect I’m in the beginning of the fourth quarter. (I just turned sixty years old.) I want to get through life nice and easy, and then out of here. I suspect that when I die, whenever that will be, that will be the happiest time of my life. My life is in God’s hands, and He seems to know what He is doing, praise be to God. How many people, for whatever it’s worth, get to make it to my age? As I told my dad before he died, “If one can get through life with honor, then what more can one ask?” He made it to the age of eighty-six.