Prayer to Christ Crucified

Prayer to Christ Crucified
(Prayer at the End of the Retreat, St Scholastica’s, Tagaytay)

Dearest Lord,
Crucified and abandoned on the cross.
I thank you for the gift of the retreat.
A luxury of time, of space, that allowed me not only to pray
But to rest in your love as well.
A necessity for someone who desires to take up one’s cross
And follow you.

Thank you for the gift of ministry,
For having been able to see you
In the crucified lives of people I serve.
For the grace of being able to wash the feet of the least of my brethren
For in doing so, I may become a student eagerly learning at the foot of the Master.
I ask forgiveness for the many times I have not been able to take your beloved people down from the violent cross which your love meekly embraced.
I ask for strength
And hope
And assurance
That for the sowing that I do
Others will do the reaping.
And even then,
Even if no assurance will come
Comfort me in the realization
That it is not my work but yours
That it is not my mission but yours.
I pray that at the least you will make me
The disciple whom you loved
Who will be beside Mother Mary
Who knelt and wept and embraced
Your dead and bloodied body
Taken down from the cross.

Thank you for the gift of your presence,
For having been able to gaze at you,
Wounded, broken and dead.
In the quiet solitude of my room
In the comforting refuge of nature
In the holy sanctuary of the chapels
And in all the lonely places I found myself praying.

Thank you for the gift of a meaningful and fruitful retreat.
Not just for the graces received
Not just for the insights gained
Not just for the patient and wise guides,
But most of all
For you
For being you
For being able to be with you
For being able to die with you.
That in so doing, you may give me new life.
That in so doing, you may remember me when you come into your kingdom.
Amen.