Meeting 3. - Why the Words “Thy Will Be Done” Are Important for My Life¶

Tags: God’s will, Freedom, Vocation, Truth, Working with Text, Questions for Sharing, Discussion, Formational

Goal¶

To discover which areas of my life I cannot give to God. Awareness that each of us has such elements that we want to control ourselves. (Important that no one feels worse because they cannot give their whole life to God) Sharing our experience of “self-directing” life. An attempt to find an answer to the question: “Why are some areas easier to give to God, and some more difficult (or even impossible)?”.

Prayer¶

Prayer for the ability to look at our life in Truth. Emphasis not in the direction of accounting for something, quite the opposite - we ask that we be able to see how our life looks, and not what its pluses and minuses are.

Introduction¶

Yesterday we talked about what freedom is and how to distinguish it from self-will. That is, about how “not to overdo” freedom. Today we already know that we can give our freedom to God, so that He may direct it. But how to reconcile this? How to reconcile freedom with fulfilling God’s will - how “not to enslave one’s own freedom”.

Where in My Life Is There Room for God’s Will?¶

Let’s write down on a piece of paper the areas that make up our life - both the small ones and the “great” ones. Then let’s rank them starting from those that are most important to us, ending with those least important. (e.g. School, meetings with friends, family, my hobby, work, vocation…)

Warning

Most important does not mean that they take up the most time

After creating the hierarchy, we mark (as fruit of the meeting), in which of these areas it is easy for us to say “Thy Will Be Done”, in which it is difficult, and in which it is downright impossible. – At this time!

What is easy for me to give to God? What do I want to control myself?
Where are these matters located in the hierarchy of things important to me?
Why exactly these? What do you think?

These questions should have a sharing character and there is no single right answer. It is worth emphasizing the two most possible and most common attitudes:

I want to lead the most important matters myself, and those I don’t care about I can give to someone else
I am so attached to these small matters that I cannot imagine that they might change, go “not according to my mind”, while I don’t think about important matters, so it’s easier for me to recognize God’s will in these areas

Is This Necessary for Me?¶

Note

“This” = God’s will

Am I isolated in such an attitude? Let’s read:

Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” “Which ones?” he inquired. Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’” “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

—Mt 19,16-22

The young man seemed to think he was so great… maybe he also wanted to show off before Jesus. And what attitude do I adopt standing before God?

Is it easy for me to notice matters that I cannot give to God?
Is it wrong that there are such matters in my life that I want to control myself?
Is giving everything to God necessary for salvation?

Note

Interpretation based on Veritatis Splendor:

Perfection demands that maturity in the gift of self to which human freedom is called. Jesus points out to the young man the commandments as the first necessary condition for achieving eternal life; while the words about the young man abandoning all his possessions and following the Lord have the character of a proposal: “If you want…”. Jesus reveals here the particular dynamics of growth of freedom toward full maturity, and at the same time confirms the existence of a fundamental bond between freedom and God’s law. Human freedom and God’s law are not opposed to each other, but on the contrary - they mutually refer to each other. The disciple of Christ knows that his vocation is a vocation to freedom. “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free” (Gal 5, 13), the apostle Paul cries out with joy and pride. But immediately adds: “But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love” (ibid.). The firmness with which the Apostle opposes those who link their justification to the Law has nothing to do with “liberation” of man from the commandments, which - on the contrary - serve the practice of love: “For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For the commandments: do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not covet, and all others - are summed up in this command: love your neighbor as yourself” (Rom 13, 8-9). Saint Augustine, when speaking of keeping the commandments as the first imperfect freedom, adds: “Why - someone will ask - still imperfect? Because «I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind» (…). Partial freedom, partial slavery: freedom is not yet complete, not pure, not full, because we have not yet reached eternity. We are still partly subject to weakness, and partly we have already gained freedom. All our sins were wiped away by baptism, but did weakness also disappear along with the destruction of wickedness? If it had disappeared, we would live on earth without sin. Who would dare to say that this is so, if not a man full of pride, unworthy of the mercy of the liberator? (…) Since we are still subject to weakness, I dare say that we are free to the extent that we serve God, and to the extent that we follow the law of sin, we are slaves”

(we know from the text that keeping the commandments is necessary for salvation, while following Jesus is a further stage - “If you want to be perfect”. Jesus does not require us to “sell everything and follow Him” - this is a proposal for those who want “something more” in life)

So why do we ask ourselves today about these areas of life that we cannot give to God? Why bother our heads with this, since it is not necessary for salvation?

A fragment from the Gospel of Saint John can help us answer this question:

You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free

—Jn 8,32

By asking ourselves questions and seeking answers, we can know the truth about ourselves and our motivations. Only by knowing the truth can we be free.

Did the question from the meeting allow you to discover something new about yourself? Was it difficult for you?
Did you stand before yourself in truth?
If so, you became freer people than before the meeting… Are you aware of this?

But asking questions alone is not the attitude “Thy Will Be Done”. So why is such an attitude good? Why is it set as an example for us?

To answer these questions, we need to reach back to today’s first meeting, and recall what is God’s will and what is not…

Note

Reminder of what participants understand by “Thy Will Be Done”.

Simply put, God’s will is that we respond positively to His call, that we fulfill our VOCATION well.

In Saint Paul’s Letter to the Galatians we read:

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

—Gal 5,13-14

What then is the attitude “Thy Will Be Done”?
In the face of the call to freedom, can we still say that fulfilling God’s will is not necessarily necessary for us?

For Younger Groups (and not only) - Addition¶

On a piece of paper we write the large word “God” and place it under the paper created at the beginning of the meeting. Against the background of the window, the word God shines through on our first plane.

What does this mean?
How do you interpret this?

Note

For the animator - example interpretation: True freedom has a chance to exist only in full surrender to God. It is He who illuminates our life with true freedom. Without the rays of His freedom, this is only our freedom, and thus perfect connection occurs - but we draw our freedom from His Freedom, not the other way around :)

Application¶

Let’s return once more to the hierarchy of areas of our life. Are the areas in which we cannot say “Thy Will Be Done” free in us? In them (despite wanting to control ourselves) do we feel free?

Let’s choose one of these things (matters) in which we particularly want to try to adopt the attitude “thy will be done” and give it to God in prayer.