Lenten Meditation April 1 – Beloved Child

Jn 7:1-2,10,25-30

So often in my life, especially when it comes to family and ministry, I have been discredited because of my past or rather “where I came from “. Like Jesus in this Gospel, I have avoided certain people or places because I knew they were conspiring against me.

For many years before I began my healing journey I presented a fake side of me, a secret side, so as not to be discovered for who I REALLY was. Eventually, as I began to heal and become who I was created to be, a beloved daughter of God, the people around me began to question me also as they questioned Jesus. “Who does she think she is? We know where she came from, we know what she’s DONE.” It has been a deep source of pain that often times triggers my wounds of abandonment and rejection. I can hardly imagine what Jesus must have felt when He too was rejected by his own people the Jews.

As the Lord gently peels back the layers of inner wounds and lies that have attached to my own heart, I gain inspiration to move forward with His words, “ Yet I did not come on my own, but the one who sent me , whom you do not know is true”.

And so, I continue to share His message of mercy with others despite what they know about me or what they think they know about me with confidence in the One who is true.

As we continue our time in the desert with Jesus these last couple weeks of Lent let us ask Jesus to heal our relationships with others that have been or still are a source of pain for us. Let us ask Him to reveal to us who may have a deep need that is right in front of us? Ask for his help to give the gift of OURSELVES more than a charitable donation or a bag of canned goods this Lent so that we can allow our almsgiving to truly transform us and heal our relationship with others.

PRAY THIS TODAY

LORD, please open my eyes so I can see as you see, the one right before me, who has deep need. Open my heart to bring me into communion with them and with you.

Clarissa