Liberty

This from St. Ignatius of Loyola.

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding
and my entire will.

All I have and call my own,
You have given all to me,
to you, Lord, I return it.

Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace,
that is enough for me. Amen.

It’s not easy. It’s about surrender and offering up. Self-emptying, true humility. You can’t really “work at it.” God’s grace is free; He doesn’t want a thing to give it to you. Just your heart…Read and contemplate. Read it and mean it. What have you got to gain? So much more than you’ll lose. None of that’s ours anyway. And there is so little we really need. Give up something today. Give it away; stop eating it, watching it, listening to it, reading it, posting it, ignoring it, criticizing it, hating it. Give it up. Just stop so you’ll leave more room for God. Stop thinking about your ‘needs’ and figure out a way to help your neighbor who is truly in need. How about a smile for someone, or a hug for someone who’s hurting? How about a kindness which shows itself in politeness and courtesy? What about just loving others as we want to be loved? Once again we say, God’s grace is enough. Oh, the things you’ll do with God’s love in your heart! Can’t wait to see where we’ll go on that fuel, that inextinguishable fire!