To each of us has been given
grace
according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
Therefore it/he says:
‘Having gone up
to the high place
he led captured captives;
(and) he gave gifts to people.’

So what is ‘He went up…’
unless he went down also
to the lowest (parts), (that is) the earth?
The one who went down is
the one who went up
far above all the heavens,
so that he might fill all things.

Psalm 68 18

You ascended on high,
    leading a host of captives in your train
    and receiving gifts among men,
even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there.

God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.