Take, Lord, receive

Mark 12: 38 - 44

...she...has put in everything she had...

It seems a cliche to say that when we acknowledge our (spiritual) 'poverty', we are on the way to becoming 'rich'. The poor widow certainly demonstrated this, and did so in a practical, material way. She felt herself 'rich' in the Lord, however bereft of material possessions she was. In this way, she was able and willing to give back to the Lord "everything she had" - for it was only fitting to return to Him his 'gift'.

The Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius ends with a "Contemplation to love as God loves". In this exercise pray-ers are asked to consider all the manifold gifts that God has bestowed on them - from the gifts of creation and redemption, to the gift of Jesus, incarnate, to the fact that God continually labors for us, in and through all things. In view of these gifts, in gratitude, Ignatius suggests a prayer of response.

"Take, Lord, and receive, all my liberty, my memory, my understanding and my entire will - all that I have and call my own. You have given it 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." The beloved shares with the Lover all that he/she has - that is the nature of true love.