“I ask God to give me an intimate knowledge
of the many gifts I have received,
that filled with gratitude for all,
I may in all things
love and serve the Divine Majesty.”
(Spiritual Exercises, #233)
Intimate knowledge.
That’s what I ask you for, Lord.
I want that insight, that understanding, that knowledge
that will be about our intimacy.
Many gifts.
Let me count the ways you have loved me.
The gifts of your love.
All that you have given me.
All that I am.
I so often look at my shortcomings.
Let me see the gifts.
All of them.
Filled with gratitude.
Fill me, Lord, with gratitude.
Let my heart,
sometimes filled with so much else,
be filled with thanksgiving.
Give me the feelings of gratitude,
of a grateful heart.
Joy, freedom, peace, generosity.
In all things love and serve.
Let the overflowing gratitude in my heart
touch all the things and people in my life.
Every thought, word and deed.
Every hurt, every slight, every loss.
Every reaction and response.
Every opportunity and choice.
Every offering of myself.
In all,
let me love and serve you.
Amen.