newman's

Dear Jesus... 

Help me to spread 

Thy fragrance 

everywhere I go.

Flood my soul with Thy Spirit and Life.

Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly 

that all my life may only be a radiance of Thine.

Shine through me, and be so in me

that every soul I come in contact with 

may feel Thy presence in my soul.

Let them look up, 

and see no longer me, 

but only Jesus.

Stay with me and then, I shall begin to shine 

as Thou shinest, so to shine 

as to be a light to others.

The light, O Jesus, 

will be all from Thee. 

None of it will be mine.

It will be Thou, 

shining on others 

through me.

Let me thus praise Thee

in the way Thou lovest best, 

by shining on those around me.

Let me preach Thee 

without preaching, 

not by words, but by my example.

By the catching force 

of the sympathetic influence 

of what I do.

The evident fullness 

of the love my heart bears 

to Thee. 

Amen.

 

-John Henry Newman-