FR. Steve, my colleague in the seminary, told me as soon as he left my office after we chatted, “Fr. Rodel, God will never abandon you. And remember, just as a mother will not forget her child, God will not forget you.” Then, he jokingly remarked, “I may leave you but God will never leave you! “
At times, we need to be reminded of this truth, especially when we’re low in self-esteem or lacking in appreciation from others. We need to be reminded of God’s love for us and to remind ourselves that we are, indeed, God’s beloved children.
God’s love for us is not defined by our work, money, reputation, prestige, or accomplishments. It’s defined by the fact that we are his children. God loves every ordinary person in the same way that he loves the pope. We may not believe or feel this but it’s the absolute truth!
Perhaps, this truth is hard to sink into our hearts and minds. One of the reasons is that we keep comparing ourselves to others who may be better than us. We cannot keep having this attitude. We need to say to ourselves, “I am loved. I am myself and I cannot be somebody else. I have my particular gifts and I’m a good person!
Another reason is that we don’t appreciate too much our own gifts or blessings because we’re blinded by our inadequacies and imperfections. Being “good’ is not enough for us. We have to succeed, we have to be perfect. Our minds cannot rest until we come to this superior state of being.
We have to humbly embrace our weaknesses and our ordinariness. Otherwise, we won’t have peace of mind. We’re always chasing after ambition and prestige.
I am not saying that having ambitions or wanting success are wrong. What I’m saying is that this continuous dissatisfaction with oneself is not healthy for the mind, body, and spirit.
Sometimes, what we need to do is to fall into the hands of God to experience his love. We need to contemplate his tight embrace and the assurance of his unconditional love. We need to sit down quietly and close our eyes to be touched existentially by God’s profound love.
Indeed, for God we are more than our works, our achievements and titles. He loves us just the way we are. He does not want us to waste our time thinking about our unworthiness and inferiority. He does not want us to be hard on ourselves. I know that this is difficult for many of us to do, but we have to trust God in his love and mercy.
Our minds can trick us into thinking that we’re not good enough for others. Some spiritual writers say that this is the voice of the devil that does not want us to be happy and peaceful. The devil wants to create a hell for us even here on earth. His purpose is to make our lives miserable!
The voice that we need to hear is that of God, the voice that tells us that each one of us is his beloved child! This coming Holy Week is the most appropriate time to dwell on this truth. For the greatest thing that he did for us was to send his only Son to redeem us and to reveal his undying love for every person!
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From a Filipino immigrant family, Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas was ordained to the priesthood from St. John’s Seminary in 1991. He served as Associate Pastor at St. Augustine, Culver City (1991-1993); St. Martha, Valinda (1993-1999); and St. Joseph the Worker, Canoga Park (1999-2001). In 2001, he served as Administrator Pro Tem of St. John Neumann in Santa Maria, CA, until his appointment as pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary, Los Angeles, in 2002, which lasted 12 years. His term as Associate Director of Pastoral Field Education at St. John’s Seminary began in July 2014.
