Jesus Our Sacrifice and Oblation
"Such was the Father's will that his blessed and glorious Son, whom he gave to us and who was born for us, should through his own blood offer himself on the altar of the cross, a sacrifice and oblation, not for himself through whom all things were made, but for our sins, leaving us an example that we should follow in his footsteps. And the Father wants us all to be saved through him and to receive him with our pure hearts and our chaste bodies. But few are they who do want to receive him and be saved through him, though his yoke is sweet and his burden light." -St. Francis, Letter to All the Faithful, Second Version
Francis is correct in his assessment that few want to be saved, and this has not changed. People do not want to give up their autonomy even though, as Francis points out, "his yoke is sweet and his burden light." This is the battle between good and evil--love and fear. In the beginning the doubt Satan planted in our heads caused us to experience fear for the first time and rather than go to God, we took matters into our own hands. We are still doing that. So God sent Perfect Love to cast out fear and those who accept this Perfect Love will no longer live by fear. His yoke is indeed sweet. It does not at all feel like a burden. Rather, it sets us free to be all that God created us to be--a child of God, with all the privileges of belonging to Him.
"Such was the Father's will that his blessed and glorious Son, whom he gave to us and who was born for us, should through his own blood offer himself on the altar of the cross, a sacrifice and oblation, not for himself through whom all things were made, but for our sins, leaving us an example that we should follow in his footsteps. And the Father wants us all to be saved through him and to receive him with our pure hearts and our chaste bodies. But few are they who do want to receive him and be saved through him, though his yoke is sweet and his burden light." -St. Francis, Letter to All the Faithful, Second Version
Francis is correct in his assessment that few want to be saved, and this has not changed. People do not want to give up their autonomy even though, as Francis points out, "his yoke is sweet and his burden light." This is the battle between good and evil--love and fear. In the beginning the doubt Satan planted in our heads caused us to experience fear for the first time and rather than go to God, we took matters into our own hands. We are still doing that. So God sent Perfect Love to cast out fear and those who accept this Perfect Love will no longer live by fear. His yoke is indeed sweet. It does not at all feel like a burden. Rather, it sets us free to be all that God created us to be--a child of God, with all the privileges of belonging to Him.
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