I am no longer my own, but Yours;

Put me to what You will,

Rank with with whom You will;

Put me to doing

Put me to suffering ;

Let me be employed for You

Or laid aside for You;

Exalted forYou

Or brought low by You.

Let me be full, let me be empty;

Let me have all things,

Let me have nothing.

I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to Your pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

You are mine, and I am Yours.

So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on earth,

Let it be ratifed in heaven.

Amen

I believe this prayer comes from the Methodist tradition, possibly even from John Wesley himself. It isn't an easy one to pray. I know which parts I stumble on and you will have yours. But God has done so much for us - how can we respond except in a whole hearted way.

On another subject  - I went to mass today , only to find, as did many others , that it had already taken place. The priest had had to go off to another diocise so moved the mass forward by 2 hours. It was announced in the parish newsletter , but only on Saturday evening. I'm not blaming the person concerned . These things happen and he has three parishes to cover. But this incident is  closely  linked to the lack of priests - the news letter from a nearby parish lists activities that are beingcancelled  - the reason given is 'due to the shortage of priests,' I heard an elderly priest  in his seventies on Saturday explaining where he now works   - covering an area that was previously 4 parishes and is now one. The seminary in Durham has closed. How much longer can this situation when there is an obvious solution?