For the Joy that God gives

O Lord, God of peace,

I gave you all my pain

And you gave me all your happiness.

I gave you all my distress

And you gave me all your serenity.

That my soul may sing all of its joy to you.

I gave you all my selfishness

And you gave me all your generosity.

I gave you all my poverty

And you gave me all of your riches.

Yes, that my soul may sing all of its joy to you.

I gave you all of my nothing

And you gave me all of your all.

And just like at Cana, there was too much wine

And just like with the multiplication, of breads, there was too much bread

And just like at Tiberias, there were too many fish

And the nets burst.

God when you give, you always give too much of everything.

I gave you everything and you gave me everything,

But my everything is so small.

And the everything of your love is so great…..

And I am filled with wonder at the beauty of your presence

And I am dazzled by the light of your grace

And I am satiated by your generosity

And I am quenched by your mercy

And I am intoxicated with your tenderness

And I am nourished by your mercy and by your infinity

So that, with all my soul, I’ll go looking for you

Because without you, I am deprived of all that is good.

May my soul sing to you, all, all its joy.

              Jacques Lebreton (1922 -2006). Wounded in 1942  while unpinning a  handgrenade, he lost both hands and his sight.