Suscipe by Jacinta Teo

This song is adapted from St. Ignatius' Suscipe Prayer. And this edited version ends with the lines, "I cling to, I stand in, I fall into your promise of love." This movement from clinging to standing to falling speaks of an interior journey.

"Clinging to" suggests a certain fear of losing, a desperation, an effort-ful grasping in our hands something that in fact cannot be grasped. It sends us almost into a frenzy, in which our gaze is narrowly fixed upon ourselves. It is a necessary beginning.

As we grow deeper in love with God, we are able to trust more in this Person we have come to know more intimately. "Standing in" suggests a static position, a kind of apprehensive in-between, perhaps a transitional moment, a point of looking at what has been and considering where then shall be our next step. Yet, there is a level of conviction that allows us to stand in that which surrounds us.

Finally, "falling into". There is an indefinite continuity, an eternal continuity. We have completely let go of the reins of control and have determinedly taken that one irrevocable step to fall - not into an abyss but into a now known Love that we have come to such a knowledge of and trust to hold us in all circumstances. Once falling, everything depends then on this Love and the only effort we make is to continue allowing ourselves to keep falling. This is where we are surrendered to the truth that we cannot quite hold anything; we can only be held by that which has always held us - God's Love.

May we all be on our way...

Photo: Taken in Chau Son Monastery, Da Lat, Vietnam