He Knows What He Is About

A prayer by John Henry Cardinal Newman

God has created me to do him some definite service;
he has committed some work to me
which he has not committed to another.
I have my mission–
I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next.
I am a link in a chain,
a bond of connection between persons.

He has not created me for naught.
I shall do good;
I shall do his work;
I shall be an angel of peace,
a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it,
if I do but keep his commandments.

Therefore I will trust him.
Whatever, wherever I am.
I can never be thrown away.

If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve him;
in perplexity, my perplexity may serve him;
in sorrow, my sorrow may serve him.

He does nothing in vain.
He knows what he is about.