Day 3: God's Image of Me

LET us begin in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

Come Holy Spirit, come as Light to enlighten my mind that I may see, know, and understand what is truth, and what is not.

Come Holy Spirit, come as Fire to purify my heart that I may love myself as God loves me.

Come Holy Spirit, come as Breeze to dry my tears and turn my sorrows into joy.

Come Holy Spirit, come as Gentle Rain to wash away the residue of my wounds and fear.

Come Holy Spirit, come as Teacher to increase knowledge and understanding that I may walk in the paths of freedom, all the days of my life. Amen.

Years ago, in a period of my life when I felt nothing but my brokenness, I sat down and wrote this song. Today, let’s make this part of our opening prayer:

Deliver Me From Me

Deliver me from me,
from this earthly tent sagged and leaking
Deliver me from me,
from this earthen vessel, cracked and dry
Deliver me from me,
from this flesh so weak and worn
Lord, deliver me, from me
into your mercy (repeat)

Into your mercy
Into your mercy
Into your mercy
Lord, deliver me from me…

Deliver me from me,
from this flesh so weak and worn
Lord, deliver me, from me
into your mercy

Into your mercy
Into your mercy
Into your mercy
Lord, deliver me from me
Into your mercy
Into your mercy
Into your mercy
Lord, deliver me from me
Into your mercy
Into your mercy
Into your mercy

—Mark Mallett from Deliver Me from Me, 1999©

Part of our weariness comes from weakness, a fallen human nature that almost seems to betray our desire to follow Christ. “The willing is ready at hand,” said St. Paul, “but doing the good is not.”^[1]Rom 7:18

I take delight in the law of God, in my inner self, but I see in my members another principle at war with the law of my mind, taking me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Miserable one that I am! Who will deliver me from this mortal body? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom 7:22-25)

Paul turned more and more in trust to Jesus, but many of us do not. We turn toward self-hatred, beating ourselves up, and a feeling of hopelessness that we will never change, never be free. We allow lies, the opinions of others, or the wounds of the past to mold and shape us rather than God’s truth. In the over two decades since I wrote that song, I can honestly say that berating myself has never done an ounce of good. In fact, it’s done a lot of harm.

How God Sees Me

So yesterday, you left off with a question to ask Jesus how He sees you. Some of you wrote me the next day, sharing your answers and what Jesus said. Others said they heard Him say nothing at all and wondered if maybe there was something wrong, or that they were going to be left behind in this retreat. No, you won’t be left behind, but you will be stretched and challenged in the days ahead to discover new things, both about yourself and about God.

There could be any number of reasons why some of you heard “nothing.” For some, it’s that we haven’t learned to hear that small still Voice, or trust it. Others may simply doubt that Jesus would speak to them and don’t even bother trying to listen. Remember again that He…

…manifests himself to those who do not disbelieve him. (Wisdom 1:2)

Another reason may be that Jesus has already spoken to you, and wants you to hear that word again in His Word…

Open your Bible and turn to its first book, Genesis. Read Chapter 1:26 all the way through to the end of Chapter 2. Now, grab your journal and go through this passage again and write down how God sees man and woman whom He created. What do these chapters tell us about ourselves? When you’re done, compare what you’ve written to the list below…

How God Sees You

• God gave us the gift to co-create through our fertility.
• God trusts us with new life
• We are made in His image (something not said about the other creatures)
• God gives us dominion over His creation
• He trusts that we will care for the work of His hands
• He feeds us with good foods and fruit
• God sees us as fundamentally “good”
• God wants to rest with us
• He is our life-breath.^[2]cf. Acts 17:25: “it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything.” His breath is our breath
• God made all creation, especially Eden, for man to delight in
• God wanted us to see His goodness in creation
• God provides man with everything he needs
• God gives us free will and the freedom to love and respond to Him
• God doesn’t want us to be alone; He gives us all manner of creatures to surround us
• God gives us the privilege of naming creation
• He gives man and woman to each other to perfect their happiness
• He gives us a sexuality that is complementary and powerful
• Our sexuality is a beautiful gift and nothing to be ashamed of…

This is by no means an exhaustive list. But it tells us so much about how the Father sees us, delights in us, trusts us, empowers us, and cares for us. But what does Satan, that serpent say? He is an accuser. He tells you that God has abandoned you; that you are pathetic; that you are hopeless; that you are ugly; that you are dirty; that you are an embarrassment; that you are stupid; that you are an idiot; that you are useless; that you are disgusting; that you are a mistake; that you are unloved; that you are unwanted; that you are not lovable; that you are abandoned; that you are lost; that you are damned….

So then, whose voice have you been listening to? Which list do you see yourself in more? Are you listening to the Father who created you, or the “father of lies”? Ah, but you say, “I am a sinner.” And yet,

But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us… through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:8, 11)

In fact, Paul tells us that essentially even our sin cannot separate us from God’s love. Yes, it’s true that unrepented mortal sin can separate us from eternal life, but not from God’s love.

What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him? …For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (cf. Rom 8:31-39)

To Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta, whose writings have ecclesiastical approval,^[3]cf. On Luisa and Her Writings Jesus said:

…the Supreme Maker… loves everyone and does good to all. From the height of His Majesty He descends down below, deep into the hearts, even into hell, but He does it quietly without clamor, where He is. (June 29, 1926, Vol. 19)

Of course, those in hell have rejected God, and what a hell that is. And what a hell it becomes for you and I who are still on earth when we refuse to believe in God’s love and mercy. As Jesus cried out to St. Faustina:

The flames of mercy are burning Me — clamoring to be spent; I want to keep pouring them out upon souls; souls just don’t want to believe in My goodness. —Jesus to St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul, Diary, n. 177

If you want to begin healing, as I said in Healing Preparations, it is necessary that you have courage — the courage to believe that God truly loves you. That’s what His Word says. That’s what His life said on the Cross. That’s what He says to you now. It is time for us to stop accusing ourselves with all of Satan’s lies, stop berating ourselves (which is often a false humility) and humbly accept this great gift of God’s love. That’s called faith — faith that He could love someone like me.

Pray with the song below, and then pick up your journal and ask Jesus again: “How do you see me?” Maybe it is only a word or two. Or an image. Or maybe He will want you to simply reread the truths above. Whatever He says, know from this hour forth, that you are loved, and that nothing can separate you from that love. Ever.

Someone Like Me

I am nothing, You are all
And yet you call me child, and let me call you Abba

I am little, and You are God
And yet you call me child, and let me call you Abba

So I bow down, and I worship You
I fall on my knees before the God
who loves someone like me

I am sinful, You’re so pure
And yet you call me child, and let me call you Abba

So I bow down, and I worship You
I fall on my knees before the God
who loves someone like me

I bow down, and I worship You
I fall on my knees before the God
who loves someone like me… someone like me

Oh I bow down, and I worship You
I fall on my knees before the God
who loves someone like me
And I fall on my knees before the God
who loves someone like me,
who loves someone like me,
like me…

—Mark Mallett, from Divine Mercy Chaplet, 2007©