I just had an unforgettable experience! On Tuesday I returned home from a 10 day study tour in Rome with a group of fellow students and graduates from Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology. Very Rev. Denis Robinson OSB, president and Rector of Saint Meinrad, guided us on our pilgrimage. On our last day together Fr. Denis asked each of us to share our personal highlight of the trip. Reflecting on everything I had experienced it was hard for me to pin point just one event – there were so many God filled moments. Then it came to me. What touched me the most was the privileged to witness the love and spiritual friendship that grew between all of us on the pilgrimage. Initially we were mainly a group of acquaintances; however, as the days went on God’s love manifested among us. We were a group of imperfect people who came together with a desire to know our Lord a little bit more. And our Lord delivered, he shared his love with us through one another. I can’t help think that we were beginning to become a small microcosm of what life could be for all people.
What Stops Us From Loving
So what holds us back from fully loving others? Well, before we can fully love another we need to walk in God’s paths – in his love right. After all, all love comes from God and we will receive his love when we walk with him. Here is where we can get stuck. Two stumbling blocks impede mankind’s ability to walk this path and they are both rooted in guilt and shame.
Too many of us falsely believe that we need to be perfect before we can begin the walk on God’s straight path. And then, too many of us believe that others need to be perfect before they can begin their walk on God’s path. We place on ourselves a burden too heavy for human beings to carry on their own. This burden is like telling a rambunctious child to mind their manners without even teaching them manners. The child is set up for failure and subsequent guilt. Eventually shame will set in.
Guilt, Perfection and God
God doesn’t expect perfection from us. He desires a love relationship with us, he yearns for us to turn to him in all our human weaknesses. God understands our human weaknesses and our inclinations towards sin; after all, he is God and he understands everything because he created everything. Yet, if we allow our guilt to get the better of us we will become frozen, unable to move along his path and receive his unconditional love. We will then seek help, all too often falling prey to the idols of the world.
In the human heart lives a need to seek and find God. Yet, if we allow guilt from our past mistakes to get the better of us we will seek worldly measures to hide and cover our guilt. There are lots of “shiny” things in the world that promise to cover our guilt. They will only allure us away from turning to God and allowing him to heal and free us from our guilt. As God’s children we need to claim our birthright – we are all created in the image and likeness of God. And given this, we were created “very good” as Genesis 1:31 tells us. God wants us to turn to him when we are imperfect, guilt and all.
Festering Guilt
If we allow our guilt to fester it will become chronic. Think of guilt this way. You did something you know you shouldn’t have done; however, you still inherently believe that you are a good person. You just made a mistake. Hey, it happens, this is planet earth after all. Now is the perfect time to surrender your guilt to God and allow him to heal you. Reconciliation and Contemplative prayer are great steps to help you move through your guilt. They help remove the stumbling blocks keeping you from strolling down God’s paths. Look at your guilt and your behavior, see where you fell short. Use the experience of your guilt as a tool to grow closer to God.
What happens when we don’t release our guilt to God and allow him to heal it? Well, then it becomes chronic, festering inside us. Instead of believing we just made a mistake we begin to believe we are inherently flawed. We begin to believe we are indeed bad. Through this lens we will also come to believe that others are also inherently bad and flawed – not the “very good” children God created. And as far as walking God’s straight paths? Well, you can forget about that because only “good” people can do that. It’s all a lie. You are very good, I am very good, we are all very good. It’s just that most of mankind has fallen asleep and forgotten his (or hers) true identity.
Just Imagine
In today’s Gospel Jesus told his Apostles that they need not fear, for when the time of persecution comes the Spirit of God will speak through them. Gosh, that sounds like a pretty high feat. God speaking through man? Really? Did Jesus mean that the Spirit of God would only speak through those Apostles who stood before him that day? After all, they were a pretty special group. No, he did not limit this promise to them. After all, he spoke quite clearly through Paul and he never met the human Jesus. (The picture above is a picture I took while in Rome of Saint Paul Outside The Wall. This beautiful Basilica is home to the tomb of Saint Paul.) Jesus’ words were, and are, eternal. They are meant for us as well. God will speak through us; however, we must empty ourselves of our guilt and shame. We must accept the fact that all of God’s children are created “very good” and that each and every one of us has fallen into sin to one degree or another.
What if each of us felt in our heart the truth of who we really are? What if we could look at ourselves and say – “I was created in God’s image and likeness and I am very good”. What if we could look at our fellow brothers and sisters and say “You were created in God’s image and likeness and you are very good”. Sing it loud my brothers and sisters! God’s children surrendering their guilt and shame at the foot of the cross and becoming free – what a beautiful image. In Rome I had a bit of this experience with my fellow travelers. We saw in each other some “very good” stuff. And that was the highlight of my trip.
Global Light For Christ (GLFC)
We are a community striving to grow in love. If you are seeking to become healed of wounds that can only be healed through the love of Jesus please leave your petition below. We always strive to more fully surrender to the will of our Triune God and together we can make a difference in the world. Let’s pray that we all witness God’s love in the world.
God bless all of you. See you next week Friday – Carolyn
God the Father – hold us in your Fatherly love.
Sacred Heart of Jesus – heal us with your divine love.
God the Holy Spirit – immerse us in divine love.
