My God, God of love and mercy,
take me wholly, entirely in your hands,
render me, by your gentle, loving touch
completely docile to the Spirit whom you breathe,
conformed to the Son, your Beloved.
Make me thus, by the gift of transformation,
transparent to the outflowing of your love,
a channel through which life can flow
to penetrate, heal, and transform others too.
God, my Father, my Life, my Joy,
there is so much darkness in this world,
so many people who search for you,
yet who do not have the ability to see,
the ability to perceive your voice, speaking,
because their eyes are cloaked over by sin,
their ears by the deafening sounds of the world,
their hearts numbed by wounds and brokenness.
Here, here my Father…is where prayer is so important,
in order to open a space for love to flow more freely.
But how does this really help,
for you, certainly, are already doing all you can?
Because you are so gentle, tender
that you respect our freedom with utmost care,
never forcing your way in through our resistance,
through the thick veil of this fallen world
which obscures your light for us to see.
It is so sorrowful, Father, that hearts can thirst,
in the midst of their pains, sins, and addictions,
for a better, purer, holier life,
yet be unable to extricate themselves from these things.
It is so sorrowful that hearts can yearn for you,
not even sure if you really exist,
yet be incapable, at the moment,
of perceiving the signs you give that you are real,
that you are always close to them, inviting.
The world, my God, and each person’s life,
is like a womb created for the seed of life,
the gift that flows unceasingly from your Heart.
Yet we are now so cloaked over by fear,
by the sin that creates an abyss between us and you,
that we cannot reconnect, cannot bridge the gap,
cannot receive your love like a gentle dew.
But you cross over the gap, from the first moment,
and every moment intervening, since our first sin,
reaching out for us, at work, through every sin since.
In the fullness of time, after years of preparation,
you send your Son to become a man among us,
to live with us, bridging the gap,
indeed revealing that, though we are far from you,
you, my God, are never truly far from us.
Yes, he enters, in loving compassion, into our darkest place,
embracing us so deeply, taking us in his arms,
that he can cry out with us, and in our name:
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Yet the love with which he does this,
the childlike trust with which he cries out,
pierces through the thick darkness that we feel.
Our hearts, so alone and isolated, in sadness and despair,
are touched, in this place, by the presence of Another,
someone who understands, embracing: God himself.
Perhaps at first we cannot feel it,
cannot perceive the presence of this Lover drawing near.
Yet he approaches us through the darkness nonetheless,
enfolding us in his arms in the most desperate place.
Ah, yearning soul, soul lost yet longing for more,
he is carrying you even if you do not feel him!
Trust this, take the leap—yes, the simple relaxation–
into his gentle, yet strong embrace!
You will know him, you will feel him,
you will discover the freedom and joy he gives,
not by putting him to the test,
but by returning to the place of childlike trust,
by letting him approach you, the loving God.
Whatever obstacles, my God, my Life,
are holding them apart from you,
keeping them from finding you as you are…
use me, in whatever way you desire,
to remove, to rend the veil, so they may know!
I want to share in the compassion of Christ…
yes, I already do, drawn to him.
Let me only plunge in ever more deeply,
into the intimacy of the Son
resting always on your fatherly breast.
And from this place of intimate embrace,
remaining always close to you, my Father,
may I reach out, may I embrace in compassion,
those who need you the most.
And let me carry in my inmost heart, my whole being,
all that is theirs, bearing it before you, praying,
and in this way open a space, like a receptive womb,
for them to receive the gift of your love into their life,
so that we may all together, united,
share the joy of resting always in your loving arms.