From Living Faith Daily Catholic Devotions (Jan/Feb/Mar 2026)

St. Casimir

Jeremiah 118:18-20 + Psalm 31:5-6, 14-16 + Matthew 20:17-28

‘Into Your Hands’

Into your hands I commend my spirit. Psalm 31:6

Jesus’ last words on the Cross were an echo of this psalm: “‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit;’ and when he had said this he breathed his last.” (Luke 23:46) These words have been such a blessing for me through my life. It moves me deeply to hear Jesus, after all his suffering, expressing his great trust of this Father by putting his spirit into his Father’s hands.

I have remembered his words when I have felt overwhelmed in some crisis in my life. A medical emergency, the loss of a loved one, a life-threatening wreck on a freeway. When anxiety peaks, having these words to pray, commending myself in this situation into God’s hands, I have felt the great grace of trusting that I am not alone.

I have no idea what state I will be in when I am dying. Sometimes, I pray about that future day…

Loving God, I commend into your hands all my life and my spirit when I die.

□ Patricia Livingstone (Pat is a writer, speaker and retreat director. A wife, mother and grandmother, she lives in Tampa, FL).