The Peace Prayer of St. Francis begins with a plea that God use us as his instrument. An instrument is something that is used to accomplish a greater purpose than is inherently possible in and of itself. A flute is a device that must be used to be an instrument, such as when it is used by James Galway to make magical music. Mary became the instrument used by God to accomplish the Incarnation.
In praying the Peace Prayer we are asking God to change us, to “make us” which implies we are asking to be changed, to move in a new direction; to experience what the early Church called metanoia, a Greek word meaning changing one’s mind. Our Christian ancestors used it to refer to conversion.
Conversion is always the work of the Holy Spirit, even the grace, the nudge to consider the idea, is from the Spirit. When we ask Jesus to change us into his instrument, what are we asking for? The answer is provided in an old hymn written in 1926 by David Iverson called Spirit of the Living God. Here are the lyrics that describe what we are requesting when we ask to be made into Jesus’ instrument.
Spirit of the living God,
Fall afresh on me.
Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me.
Spirit of the living God,
Fall afresh on me.
If I may borrow from the 12 Steps Program, it means to “let go and let God.” Conversion is at the heart of Christian Faith. On Ash Wednesday we were charged to “repent and believe in the Gospel.” (Mark 1:15)
The Holy Spirit calls us in many voices. One of those voices we are hearing a lot lately is that of Our Holy Father Pope Francis, who in his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium wrote, “The new evangelization calls on every baptized person to be a peacemaker and a credible witness to a reconciled life.” (EG 239)
What habit, what opinion contrary to the Gospel, what withheld forgiveness must we surrender to the cauldron of conversion this Lent to allow ourselves to be melted, molded, and filled? What must we change to become an instrument of God’s peace?
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Image credit: “IU Violin Shop” by Austin Davis on Flickr
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