my God and my all!

may i delight in You, O my God, at all times, in all things.

[may any joy without You

be burdensome for me,

and may i not desire anything else

besides You.

may all work, O Lord,

delight me when done for Your sake,

and may all repose not centered in You

be ever wearisome for me.

grant unto me, my God,

that i may direct my heart to You

and that in my failures

i may ever feel remorse for my sins

and never lose the resolve to change.]

submissive without protest.

poor without discouragement.

patient without complaint.

humble without posturing.

cheerful without frivolity.

mature without gloom.

Father, i trust that You are leading me. i trust that these trials will be for my good, for the strengthening of my faith and the deepening of my spiritual life. Father, would You grant me that spiritual joy possessed by the saints? that when i suffer in this body i might have such joy and peace, knowing that i suffer with the Crucified One, and that i might be raised to glory with the Risen One! [O Lord Christ!]

[i am crucified with Christ. i no longer live, but He lives in me. the life i live in the flesh, i live by faith . . . ]

i know that when i ask for peace and do not find it, it is not because You have refused to give it. gracious and merciful Father! Your peace is always before me, and yet so often i cannot attain it. how can i have peace if i do not have faith and hope? Father, i beg You, teach me whatever i need to live by faith, to look by hope. to embrace the peace of Your almighty presence.

today as i work, i ask that i might see beyond the temporal, beyond the immediate. i ask that i might have spiritual vision, that i might have peace and patience, even that i might enjoy my work.

bring me to Your life, my God and my all!