Reclaiming Our Children

Beloved Daughter- Carrie Daunt

I recently bought the book "Beloved Daughter" to give to my granddaughters for Valentines Day. Written by Carrie Daunt and beautifully illustrated by a good friend of mine, Michael Corsini, it speaks to the unconditional love of God the Father and  the value and dignity of each "beloved daughter" in His eyes.

Although I am way past the age it is intended for, I could not help but be captivated by the bold proclamations of our worth in the eyes of God the Father. At one point I felt I was actually lost in His embrace.

It truly is a simple, beautiful book that speaks to the heart and soul.

As I read through it more than once, I could not help thinking of how it would speak to the many women in our Entering Canaan Ministry  for those who have had an abortion, who very often have a huge gapping wound where the love of a father should be. I should know, I am one of them.

I’ve always had a problem connecting to God the Father. In some respects he was in line with the Wizard of OZ. Mysterious and scary and someone I did not want to run across, although like Dorothy I knew I had to if I ever wanted to make it "home".  I just did not know how to do it.

I’ve been consecrated to Mary through St Louis De Montfort "True Devotion" for over 3o years. She has guided my life leading me to the heart of her Son but I've struggled with allowing and knowing the love of the father.

My earthly father was emotionally distant and I never was nurtured by him or told I was loved. When I became pregnant as a teen (obviously looking
for love in all the wrong places), he compacted this deep wound by kicking me out of the house, disowning me and pressuring me to abort my unborn child.

This deep abandonment of my earthly father was something I carried with me for years bringing it into all my relationships as I grieved the death of my unborn child and tried to learn what love was.

Thankfully, through my faith, I have been able to journey to the Hearts of Mary and Jesus which then gently led me to the heart of the Father. A father
who is not distant, but embraces me and loves me, and each one of us, unconditionally.

I am not alone. Sadly, so many in the ministry have never felt the love of a father, often leading to broken lives devoid of love. It is only through the grace of the sacraments and meeting Him in their wounds that they receive the healing they need to live a life of faith grounded in His love. 

I am excited to give this book to my grandchildren. 

At the end of the book Carrie invites parent to read the proclamations to their children "over and over" again. It is a great reminder for them of their worth. 

In a world searching for love in all the wrong places I pray they and all who read this beautiful ittle book,  come to see all they need is right in front of them in the loving embrace of God the Father!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Afternoon of Prayerful Remembrance

If you're in the area mark your calendars!

 

The Wound of Our Heart

 

There are very few of us who have not struggled with a relationship that perhaps ended after many years, and the deep, soul wrenching pain it has caused.  It was a relationship, we believed was born out of trust, and one in we shared the very depths of our soul. Sadly, what we thought was, and the reality of the relationship, turned out to be two very different things.

Looking back, we can now see the signs were there. We may even have been warned by some good friends, but we chose to ignore what was before us, because we truly loved and wanted to believe in the love we thought was there for us as well.

Over the years, we may have made the choice to forgive a million times. Maybe it is particularly difficult, because it is a relationship that we will never be able to be completely separated from. It is always before us in some form. This allows not only continuing wounds, but it makes it harder for the ones that are there to heal. Each new event reflects the depth of the pain we experience with each new “stab” of the heart because we allowed the relationship so deeply into our heart and our wounds.

In some ways, we may be thankful for this experience, because it has drawn us closer to God who sees all things and knows our hearts.  He suffers right alongside us, teaching us much about His love and forgiveness. He asks us to share in His sufferings, and shows us how He too, was betrayed and abandoned by friends. He wants us to grow in love. We too fall short, and others have suffered from our failings.

Without His grace, it all would be too much for us, for it surely tempts our deepest wounds to despair, but we come to learn Christ is in those wounds with His love and mercy, and it is there He comforts and teaches us.

After years of suffering and still feeling the sting of the pain of the relationship, we may come to finally accept that this deep wound will be with us forever in this life. A cross we will carry with His help alone, to heaven.

This He asks for souls. Our humanness wants to cast off this cross, but our spiritual side embraces and loves it out of love for Him.

 In a passage from the diary of St Faustina, Jesus tells her:

Be not afraid of your Savior, O sinful soul. I make the first move to come to you, for I know that by yourself you are unable to lift yourself to Me. Child, do not run away from your Father; be willing to talk openly with your God of mercy who wants to speak words of pardon and lavish His graces on you. How dear your soul is to Me! I have inscribed your name upon My hand; you are engraved as a deep wound in My Heart (Diary, 1485).

He knows how weak we are. Yes, we wound the heart of Jesus, as our own heart has been wounded, even worse.  Sadly, we continue to do that until the day we die, but He has chosen not to cast us off but to continue to love us unconditionally, engraved as a deep wound in His heart.

The pain of a lost relationship calls us to do the same if we chose to follow Him.  This of course, does not mean opening ourselves up to being treated badly, but it does mean offering up the pain for souls and for the very relationship that caused the wound.  To cherish the gift of suffering with Christ, embracing the cross out of love, His love.

It isn’t easy. There will still be many times we will want to toss the cross far away from us, but in those times, we should try to remember that we are engraved in the wound of His heart and we must in turn, engrave the relationship as a deep wound in our heart. We must choose to continue to love despite the pain.  and pray for the grace to share in this suffering to love Christ more and more.