Thursday, May 22, 2008

Teach me, Lord, to be generous

Ignatius of Loyola

Today, I had a meeting with the pastor and some members of Bethany Lutheran Church here in Tusla. They have asked me to lead a workshop in Ignatian spirituality later this summer. We discussed what sorts of information needed to be included in the publicity for the event and I found myself quoting this prayer by Ignatius:
Teach me, Lord, to be generous,
To serve you as you deserve.
To give and not to count the cost,
To fight and not to heed the wounds,
To toil and not to ask for rest,
To labor and not to seek reward
Save that of knowing I do your will.
It's important not to interpret this prayer as meaning that we shouldn't take care of ourselves. Remember, Ignatius was a soldier. In the heat of battle we can't stop and take it easy. But our ongoing training requires that we maintain our health and well-being. This prayer is truly about deep generosity - about not making self-interest our highest priority ALL of the time!

2 comments:

  1. Oh Sr. Ellie!
    I want to come! :) When is it? Are the dates settled?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I would love to have you come, Monk-in-training!

    The workshop will be on Saturday, July 19 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

    You can call the church for details at 627-4218.

    The title of the workshop is:

    "Living the Scriptures with Ignatius: Spirituality and the Imagination".

    ReplyDelete

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