Stretch Out Your Hand

Night is coming on, 0 Jesus hidden within the Host; my hands are empty of virtues, and I need your merits and your cross to fill them. But where shall I find these graces? Where shall I turn to look for these treasures, if not to the foot of the beloved altar where you dwell 0 my adorable Master?…

There are immense areas of neglect in my life: I have not always done my duty to my neighbour, or to the members of my family, nor have I fulfilled the most holy obligations of religion.

Instead of seeking God, I have sought myself. I have desired comforts, I have been vainglorious and obstinate in defending my own opinion. I have taken pleasure in worldly friendships, and have sought my own gratification even in my special prayer time alone with you. How often have I yielded to a desire to have others approve of me, to being too easily hurt, to culpable weaknesses!…

Where are the humility, the patience, the obedience, the gentleness, the costly victories; where the sacrifice, which was to be the very essence of my life…?

And this is why I suffer, because my hands are empty….

Everything shall pass away, 0 Master of my life! The days and nights, the months and the years, the light and the darkness, the creatures that surround me; but you will never pass away…. You will remain with me forever!… Your affection, your tenderness and your love do not change, do not pass away but remain forever!

That is why I place all my happiness in possessing you, in having you to be mine; in adoring you with all the powers of my soul….

What an unutterable consolation to keep one’s eyes fixed on your divine Heart, so good, so loving; and to hear you saying in my inmost soul: My child, give me your heart.

Venerable Concepcion Cabrera de Armida (Conchita; 11937) was a wife, mother, and writer in Mexico.