† In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Prayer before reflecting

LORD JESUS CHRIST, teach us to live a life of faith and an ethic of love, and so participate in the very life of God the Father.

YOU, LORD JESUS, have expanded the word “God” to include human life, and so opened to us infinite possibilities that cause a restlessness in the heart of our being.

BEHOLD MY HEART, Lord Jesus, as I offer it to thee, and leave thee master of it. Cause it to produce such acts of pure love as shall please thee.

Resolution

I GIVE MYSELF to you, O God, and you have not given me this desire in vain; grant that I may by your grace accomplish it. Happy the moment when I can say, “God is all mine, so I am all His!”

Oblation

I GIVE THEE my general consent to do all that thou judgest fit for my sanctification, and this consent clearly extends to all the particular operations of grace in me. I fear only that I should return the government of myself from thy guidance.

I DESIRE happiness out of the poverty of my nature. If I were sufficient, I should no longer desire happiness for I should in such case have it.
I will second every motion of God in my soul and never impede him.
Please Lord remove the contradiction between my faith and my affections.
I cannot say “my world.” I can only say “My God,” for all else shall pass away.
Well-ordered love of myself makes me desire happiness and seek it in you by referring myself to you. Self-love considers you and all else in reference to myself and is the evil of subordinating even you to my well being.
Charity towards my neighbors is looking at them as a hierarchy of heaven and earth. Each soul is a great work of God, hidden in earth, buried in a perishable body and in the peculiar imperfections of nature and sin which hide from us its value and worth—but known certainly to God.

Suscipe*

ACCEPT, O LORD, my entire liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my will. All that I am and have thou hast given to me; and I give all back to thee to be disposed of according to thy good pleasure. Give me only the comfort of thy presence and the joy of thy love; with these I shall be more than rich and shall desire nothing more.

* Suscipe is the Latin word for “receive.” While it is often mistakenly believed to have originated as the title of a prayer written by St. Ignatius of Loyola in the early 16th century, the Suscipe actually goes back to earlier monastic profession, in reciting Psalm 118. Ignatius speaks of the immeasurable love of God that is bestowed upon all of creation, and then asks what he might offer to such a loving God:

“I will ponder with great affection how much God our Lord has done for me, and how much He has given me of what He possesses, and finally, how much, as far as He can, the same Lord desires to give Himself to me according to His divine decrees. Then I will reflect upon myself, and consider, according to all reason and justice, what I ought to offer the Divine Majesty, that is, all I possess and myself with it. Thus, as one would who is moved by great feeling, I will make this offering of myself.”

“Suscipe” is the first word in the Eucharistic prayer from the Latin Rite Mass, in which the priest asks the Holy Trinity to receive and take up the offering of bread and wine which is offered in memory of the passion of Jesus Christ so that it may ascend as a pleasing sacrifice “in Your sight and effect my eternal salvation and that of all.” The Latin word suscipio is used instead of accipio or recipio, which in English means “receive.” This is because suscipe includes the idea of both “receiving” and “taking up.” Christ offered Himself to the Father on the cross and His offering was not only “received” by the Father, but was also “taken up” by the Father, as indicated by Christ’s resurrection.

v. Send forth thy spirit, Lord.
r. And thou shalt renew the face of the earth. (Ps.104:30)

Come, thou Holy Spirit, come teach me…

How I am to feel
What I am to think
When I am to speak
Where I am to act
and
Why I do otherwise

Veni Creator

Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire,
And lighten with celestial fire.
Thou the anointing Spirit art,
Who dost thy sevenfold gifts* impart,

Thy blessed unction from above
is comfort, life, and fire of love.
Enable with with perpetual light,
The dullness of our blinded sight.

Anoint and cheer our soiled face
With the abundance of thy grace.
Keep far our foes, give peace at home;
Where thou art guide, no fear can come.

Teach us to know the Father, Son,
And thee, of both, to be but one;

That through the ages all along,
This may be our endless song:
Praise to thy eternal spirit,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

*The sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude/courage, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.

O Lord, Majestic Triune God…

I KNOW that being human is not just a statistical actuality into which I am born full-fledged, but that being human includes as well the constantly recurring imperative to become human. I can know and fulfill your conception of me by the grace of prayer, which is my unique relationship with the reality of your divine being.

Fill the emptiness of my humanity with your presence, and make your love the foundation of my life. In my prayer for others, let me be a channel of grace to bring your goodness to those in need.

***

O ETERNAL FATHER, for the sake of Jesus Christ, give me light in this prayer that I might make it to thy glory and the good of my soul, the two ends of the work of Jesus.

To this end I plead this grace, the attention of my mind, and the devotion of my will, that I may so use this time of prayer that I may come from it with new fervor of love and strength for all the needs of thy service.