Every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer—the “Our Father”—we say the words found in Matthew’s Gospel: “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” For many of us, saying those words can become rather thoughtless, because we say them so often. But the sentiment they express is quite profound.
That sentiment is expressed in a similarly audacious way in St. Ignatius’s Suscipe (soo-she-pay) prayer. The name of the prayer is taken from the Latin word that means “take up.” For you grammarians out there, it’s an imperative present; that’s the case we use when we’re issuing a command (“Stop!”) or expressing a need (“Help!”). It’s meant to elicit a response from the person to whom we’re speaking. In Ignatius’s context, it was a verb used in the Mass and calls to mind the Eucharistic Prayer that God might accept the gifts that will be “taken up” and transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ.
Ignatius includes the Suscipe during the Contemplation to Attain Love at the conclusion of the Spiritual Exercises. He urges us to call to mind all the good that God has done and the Lord’s great desire to give himself to us. Our suscipe is therefore our heartfelt response to one who loves us totally and completely. “Suscipe, Domine…” “Take up, Lord, all my liberty. Accept my memory, understanding, and my entire will.” The first imperative verb, suscipe, is our saying to God, “Take me up and transform me!” The second imperative verb, accipe, has us imagining that we are handing over everything that makes our character what it is: the memories of our past; the way we understand the world we live in; the very way we make judgments about what to do with our lives.
What an audacious prayer! We’re handing over to God all the control of our lives. We’re saying to God, “I hope that you will completely transform everything about me so that I can be a perfect instrument of your grace in the world. I want nothing of my selfishness, my short-sightedness, my biases, or my limitations. I want only your love and grace and know that you’ll take care of the rest.”
Can you make that prayer today? Do you feel a desire to be able to make that prayer? If we are following what Ignatius suggests, then the very desire to be able to pray it is a sign of God’s grace already at work in us.
Amen
Thank you for today’s spiritual exercise with the Suscipe to start our journey! I look forward to the rest of the prayers for this month. A Very profound experience! Iole
Thanks for sharing.
Theodore
Indeed it’s audacious to pray in such a way to take me up and be transformed and to handing over everything to God. But this is the narrow path we need to take to be closer to the kingdom of God. Tks for the thought.
Lovely article, thank you. Believe it or not, I sing the “Take Lord…” song to our 4 year old grandson before his nap. He sleeps like an angel.
Thank you Tim for sharing your reflection with us. We will enjoy this July journey with these wonderful reflections, food for thoughts.
What a great beginning to our blessed spiritual journey this month! Thank you!
When you are 82 years old it gets harder and harder to give God your memory when you are actually experiencing LOSING IT. I want to TRUST God ,,,,,, but I have been becoming more like the father saying “Lord, I believe – but take my unbelief” as he asks Jesus to heal his son (Mark9:24}.
I still pray the Suscipe daily but I do add “Lord, I believe – but take my unbelief”
Amen
Jim, I admire your bravery as you are experiencing difficulties. It indeed is a sure sign of your deep faith!
Thank you, Tim. Looking forward to these July reflections.
Thank you Tim. I pray the Suscipe every morning before I meditate. Ignatian spirituality led me into the Catholic Church over twenty years ago and I’m forever grateful. God bless!
Audacious prayer, indeed! I’m uncomfortable with the idea of commanding God to do anything. The imperative present form invites this reading. But no! Perhaps another understanding is, “help (or, allow) me Lord to give myself over to you entirely.”
I personally resonate with the aspect of the prayer that asks to be “taken up and transformed”. Tim’s mentioning of “memory” in the Suscipe also speaks to me. It reminds me (Ha!) how much I’m dragged down by memories of my past; how formative these memories are in my current state of being. Lord, cleanse my memories, my habits, my old thoughts and desires that keep me from being transformed into your new being.
Thanks Tim. Lord help us to pray.
….as all men and women for others are to do…
My birthday is today, and always think I’ve always been akin to st Ignatius. Thank you for today’s thoughts
Happy Birthday! Being akin to St Ignatius will always lead you in the right direction.
And then go set the world on fire…