Disturb Us Lord

More recently, we have been blessed with an abundance of good theology... We are not lacking for solid ideas.

 What we are lacking however, is fire, romance, aesthetics, as these pertain to our faith and ecclesial lives. 

What needs to be inflamed today inside religion is its romantic imagination.

Solid ideas and solid programs alone are not enough.

We need someone to re-inflame the romantic imagination of Christianity, a new Francis, a new Clare, a new Augustine, a new Thomas More, a new Ignatius, a new Therese of Lisieux.”

from Ronald Rolheiser, "Secularity and the Gospel"

Disturb us, Lord,
when we are too well pleased with ourselves,
when our dreams have come true
because we have dreamed too little,
when we arrive safely because we sailed too close to the shore. 

Disturb us, Lord,
when with the abundance of things we possess we have lost our thirst for the waters of life; having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity;
and in our efforts to build a new earth,
we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord,
to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas
where storms will show your mastery;
where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.
We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes,
and to push us into the future
in strength, courage, hope, and love.

Prayer attributed to Sr. Francis Drake before he set sail for South America in 16th Century.