“Take Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and possess. Thou hast given all to me. To Thee, O Lord, I return it. All is Thine, dispose of it wholly according to Thy will. Give me Thy love and Thy grace, for this is sufficient for me.”
Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) entitled this prayer, “Suscipe,” which in Latin means “take or receive” as a radical prayer of self-giving offered response to the love of God.
Jenni and I are on retreat in Wisconsin this weekend with some friends who live up in Door County above Green Bay, and interestingly, we were just talking about this yesterday. Picture this: Blue sky, white clouds, and fresh air. We were sitting out on the dock, probably one hundred feet from shore, eating Door County cherries and Wisconsin cheese with some crackers for our lunch.
We could not help but reflect God’s great love and generosity toward us. Of course we discussed how our response in living a life of generosity is not one of deeds to win His favor, but simply having received His generous love and grace by faith, we get to share that love and grace to others as generously as it was extended to us.
I always connect the thinking of Ignatius to my wife, Jenni, as she went on an Ignatian retreat a number of years ago for one of her Spiritual Formation classes at Denver Seminary. They worked through part of his Spiritual Exercises together.