The Grace of Surrender

One of my most prayed prayers comes from one of my favorite saints, Ignatius of Loyola. It is called the Suscipe, which in English means Take. I first came across it titled ” Dedication to Jesus.” The name is less important than the prayer itself of which you can find more than one translation. The one I favor is this:

Lord Jesus Christ, take all my freedom, my memory, my understanding and my will. All that I have and cherish you have given me. I surrender it all to be guided to your will. Your love and your grace are wealth enough for me. Give me these, Lord Jesus, and I ask for nothing more. Amen.

This prayer is very humbling. You ask God to take everything you have, willingly surrendering all to obey God. In the last few weeks I have had to put this into practice in a very tangible way. God took from me and then asked me to rely on him while the problem was being solved. It meant not talking to my trusted friends and having them to lean on through a very difficult time. It was not easy or particularly pleasant at first. Talking to God is not the same as talking to your girlfriend; the response is not as immediate or direct. But in my perseverance I was consoled in Adoration and felt a peace and acceptance much greater than any person could give me.

The difficulty with this prayer is the surrender; indeed that is often the difficulty in most things of this world. We must surrender our will to his in return for something far greater. However, we never know the greater, unless we surrender.