Prayer of Detachment

Inspired by the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas

Lord grant me a heart and mind that are detached from this world,
so as to be genuinely attached to You.

I do not pray for displeasure because I am attached to pleasure.
I do not pray for powerlessness because I am attached to power.
I do not pray for humiliation because I am attached to honor.
I do not pray for poverty because I am attached to money.

Grant me the grace to experience pleasure only when it pleases you.
Grant me the grace to have power only when it is exhausted in your service.
Grant me the grace to be honored only when it gives you glory.
Grant me the grace to have wealth only when it serves as a means to build your Kingdom.

Help me to seek displeasure so that I may be united to the nails of Your Cross
Help me to seek powerlessness so that I may be dependent as you were on the Father
Help me to seek humiliation so that I may receive the same jeers of Calvary
Help me to seek poverty so that I may share in Your nakedness before the crowd

In all things, Lord, let me never abhore your cross,
for without it my life has no substance.

Help me to see the wisdom in embracing it concretely in my own life,
so that I may fulfill my destiny in reclaiming my likeness to You.