"Blessed the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" Matthew 5:3
St. Ignatius of Loyola wrote the following prayer known as the "Suscipe" Prayer. The words go like this "Give me nothing more than your love and grace, These alone, O God, are enough for me." This in fact is the refrain to be sung this weekend at the preparation and presentation gifts. The hymn is "These Alone are Enough" by Dan Schutte.
1. Have you ever encountered a person who you considered poor in spirit? Describe Your impressions of this person as someone to emulate.
2. In our society today, where do you find difficulty in living the "Sucipe Prayer"?
The words of the Suscipe Prayer--"Give me nothing more than your love and your grace, These alone, O God, are enough for me"--bring to mind my cousin Ann. She is in the last days of her life on Earth due to abdominal cancer. She can no longer eat, but despite her pain and suffering and the thought of leaving behind her family, her thoughts are fixed on "meeting Jesus". What an inspiration for all of us who live in this culture of instant gratification! It is so easy for most Americans to fall into the trap of focusing on desiring more and more pleasure, entertainment and comfort. Enjoying life is fine until becomes a distraction from our true goal--life in Jesus Christ. Therefore, as we move through life, may we, too, remember that although there are things in this life that we want and may even need in this world, our most genuine need is Jesus. May He fill us with His life, that is His grace, and with His love, so that we can help build up His Kingdom on this Earth and that we may be with him forever when our life here is finished. – Karen Stolz, cantor Faith Formation Director
“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” Matthew 5:3 St. Ignatius of Loyola wrote the prayer known as the “Suscipe” Prayer, and a part of the prayer follows: ”Give me nothing more than your love and grace. These alone, O God, are enough for me.” These words are also the refrain of our preparation and presentation of gifts hymn this weekend…”These Alone are Enough” by Dan Schutte. As in the first words of the first verse of that hymn “Take my heart”, we see where the title of the prayer has its roots: Suscipe (from Latin) means “take” or “receive”. “Receive my heart” would be another way to say “Take my heart”. Pray through the rest of the words in the song the same way: take/receive my hopes and dreams……take/receive my mind with all its plans and schemes….take/receive my thoughts and my memory….take/receive my tears, my joys, my liberty…..take/receive the very breath that sang your praise. Where might we encounter difficulty in living the “Suscipe”? In our time, relativism, the view that ethical truths depend on the individual holding them, is pervasive. In other words, “the world according to me”. As Amy Welborn wrote in The Words We Pray, “The Suscipe is a radical prayer of total self-giving. It’s not a formula for easy decision making that we can adopt one morning after a lifetime of making decisions based on…selfish reasoning. It’s the fruit of self-reflection and of openness to God’s love.” God’s love for us and our love for God is really what matters most for our souls. If we want to make it to Heaven, we need to turn the wheel over to the One who knows where we are going! -Linda Koons, organist and accompanist and choir member
Mother Teresa of Calcutta. My husband and our four children were amazed to find ourselves in Calcutta, India, sitting on benches outside an office in the Mother House of the Sisters of Charity, where we were waiting to meet Mother Teresa herself. This was two years before she died. She came through the curtains draping the doorway of her office, and we all stood up as we realized this was not one of the many Sisters of Charity that we had seen come and go, but Mother Teresa herself. Then we all looked down! She was so tiny. She graciously had us sit down so we could visit.
Finding out we were from Wyoming, she let us know we were close to the house in Denver where her sisters cared for AIDs patients. She told us so many people would come to her from around the world, wanting to help serve the poor, but she told them AND US to go back home and to love our families, our children. Then she agreed to have her picture taken with us. Later, I read that Mother had gone through a time where she didn't want the interruptions or to have her picture taken. However, she made an agreement with God that for every click of the camera, He would release a soul from Purgatory!
I have found myself thinking about our conversation throughout these many years and realize how difficult it is to be "poor in spirit" and to "love one another." Mother Teresa of Calcutta, you who spent your life serving the poorest of the poor throughout the world, please pray for us!
Lorie Harrison
"Blessed the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" Matthew 5:3