I BEG YOU, FATHER, FOR ALL THE CROSS AND SUFFERING

393I beg you, Father, for all the cross and suffering
that you hold ready for me.
394Free me from all inordinate self-will
so that I can fulfill your slightest wishes.
Make me like my Bridegroom;
only then will I be happy and abundantly blessed.
395There is nothing you may never send me—
do everything to break my self-centeredness
so that Christ alone may live and work in me
and in him I bring you only joy.
396Father, you will never send me cross or suffering
without generously giving me the strength I need to bear it.
The Bridegroom in me helps me carry everything
and the Mother keeps watch, so we are always three.
397But if you want to preserve me from suffering—
I only want to comply with your fatherly wish—
then I pray: Keep all misfortune far from me;
you are alone for me life’s guiding star.
398Until now I myself have been at the helm,
too often forgetting you in the ship of my life.
I only turned to you helplessly now and then
to make sure my little ship would proceed according to my plan.
399Father, let me finally be entirely converted!
In my Bridegroom I want to proclaim to all the world
that the Father has the tiller in his hands
even when I do not know the goal nor know the way.
400I now let you lead me blindly;
I only want to choose your holy will.
I will go with you through darkness and night
because your love always keeps watch over me.
Amen.

Reflection

401Those who through the Inscriptio
liberate their free will from the strong sheathes of self-centeredness
stand above all things of this world
and are always victorious on the battlefield.
402They joyfully sing with the bride in the Song of Songs
whose life is happily spent in the forges of love:
“Whenever my beloved speaks,
my soul melts like wax before the fire.”
403She no longer knows self-willed forms;
she lets herself be governed by the Beloved in even the smallest things,
just as soft wax takes on the form
the wise molder gives it.
404The molder is the God of eternal love:
the shepherd who anxiously searches out
the lost lamb in the desert brush
until he can count it again in the flock;
405the mother who can never forget the child she bore,
not even in storm-filled times;
the hen that shields her chicks with her wings
whenever the foe frightens them with his threats;
406the king who lovingly and wisely
shelters us with his mighty shield
even on the most dreadful battlefield,
so that not even a tiny cloud can disturb our peace;
407the eagle that carries its small and weak chicks
to the sun on its strong back;
the father who prepares for the prodigal son
a banquet at the throne of sonship.
408At his wish, the bride abandons
and vehemently hates as her enemy,
whatever disturbs the union of love,
even if it is her own flesh and blood.
409“Those who come to me and do not hate father, mother,
wife and children, sister and brother,
those who refuse to consecrate their lives to me
can never be my true disciples.
410“Those who are unable to bear their heavy cross gratefully
can never dare to say
they are truly my loyal disciples;
they have no right to call themselves Christians.”
411Our Lord, who gave up everything for us,
is not satisfied with a life half-given.
He wants our hearts and thoughts completely
and not the pallid glimmer of half-hearted sacrifice.
412Nothing may be allowed to shamefully separate us from him.
If he so wishes, we must deny our own flesh and blood,
detaching ourselves when and as he pleases,
even when our feelings rise in revolt.
413The goal is to win the treasure in the field,
the God of love at the pinnacle of life.
To him all we have and are
is like dust that quickly slips through our fingers.
414He is the pearl beyond all price—
all other glories disappear before him.
Those who have recognized and found him
will joyfully give up everything for him.
415Those who for his sake offer their lives entirely
will experience life’s true happiness and blessing.
Those who hold something back for themselves
will find themselves badly served in every way.
416The God who wants to give all for all
urgently desires of me a life of Inscriptio.
I need not fear the powers of this world—
my being and purpose are to please him.
417In every circumstance I freely give him
my Blank Check, my source of happiness.
The light of faith tells me that whatever
he wishes, permits and ordains is good for me.
418I have experienced this countless times
in all the long years of my life
as long as, in childlike spirit, I let him do as he pleases,
even when the storm raged about my head.
419Those who, like the Bridegroom, are entirely rooted in the Father
and whose lives proclaim the Inscriptio,
will always radiate deep serenity,
even when the tempest rages on all sides.
420They are like a lofty mountain
whose foot is engulfed by stormwinds
but whose peak shines in everlasting tranquility
and never ceases to radiate blessed peace.
421Their faith sees God behind all things,
their ears are alert for the sound of the Father’s voice,
their childlike hearts are always ready
to joyously deliver themselves up to him.
422Even when the Father has permitted suffering,
the child knows how to embrace it in love
and kisses the hand that guides all things
and constantly turns to the Father in prayer.
423Unlike the dog that snaps in rage
at the stone which suddenly disturbs its rest,
the child sees behind each stone the Father’s hand
which kindly invites us to enter our homeland.
424Job, too, in his suffering had to conclude:
“The Lord has given and the Lord has taken away,”
not: “The Lord has given
and the devil has taken away God’s gift.”