October 12
Take me, Lord
eek me, Lord;
I need you. Seek me, find me, lift me up, carry me. You are expert at finding
what you search for; and when you have found the stray you stoop down,
lift him up, and place him on your own shoulders. To you he is a burden
of love, not an object of revulsion; it is no irksome task to you to bring
justification to the human race. Come then, Lord; I have gone astray, but
I have not forgotten your commandments. I still hold on to the hope
of healing. Come, Lord; none but you can bring back your erring sheep.
Those whom you leave behind will not be grieved, because the sinner's return
will be a joy to them too. Come, do your saving work on earth, and let
there be joy in heaven.
Come in search of your sheep, not through the ministry of servants or
hirelings, but in your own person. Take my human nature, which fell in
Adam. Take my humanity, not from Sarah but from the spotless Virgin Mary,
a virgin preserved through your grace from any stain of sin. Bear me on
the cross where sinners find salvation, where alone there is rest for the
weary, where alone there is life for the dying.
From John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., Tradition Day by Day: Readings from
Church Writers. Augustinian Press. Villanova, PA, 1994.
HTML text prepared by David P. Steelman
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