I Take off the MASK!

Grief and Healing - Download the eBook

You are not being called to be somebody else. You are being called to be who you truly are. You are most beautiful when you are able to be the the unique person God has wanted you to be. – Jocelyn Soriano

One of the most difficult things to do is trying to be someone you’re not. No matter how you try to, you’d merely end up with a lot of heartaches because you’re trying to be who you’re not.

Let no one pressure you into being someone else. Let no one make you believe you are not beautiful as you are.

God loves you, not because you’re perfect, but because you are His. It is within His power to one day make you perfect in every way, but only as you really are, not as a copy of someone else.

There are gifts which He has given to you alone. There are strengths which only you can fully harness. Why not bless the world by being the person God has wanted you to be?

Trust in the One who made you, the One who loved you for who you really are.

“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” – St. Catherine of Siena

“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.
Before you were born, I sanctified you.”
-Jeremiah 1:5, WEB

If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you. – John 15:7 (WEB)

Deep within our hearts, we have desires that may have remained hidden through the years. We have almost forgotten them. We rarely allow them to speak to us because somehow, we are afraid.

Not once have we been disappointed while dreaming our dreams. Not once have our desires been put down by others who didn’t believe in them.

So we buried those desires deeply, into that place where none can see them anymore, where none can judge us or mock us, telling us we’re not even worthy to imagine such things.

But what if Someone comes along who believes in them? Someone who is able to see pass through your masks, uncovering the true cry of your soul?

Will you allow yourself to believe once again? Will you honor the dignity God has placed within you?

Jesus comes knocking. He knows you through and through. Finally, here is Someone who will treasure your deepest yearnings, who cares so much about you He wants to fulfill your heart’s desires. Will you let Him? Will you trust again knowing that there is Someone who trusts in you?

Gemma complained to Jesus saying, “You have put this desire in my heart. You have told me it is your wish. Are you going to do nothing about it?” And Jesus replied, “If others will not attend to this wish of yours, hide it in My heart and I shall attend to it Myself.” (Portrait of St. Gemma by Sister Saint Michael)

In the end, we keep only the things we place upon God’s Hands. – Jocelyn Soriano

How many times have we lost things we wished we could keep forever? How many times have we grieved for something so beautiful that has suddenly been taken away from us?

What inconstancy there is indeed in this life. We strive so much to possess the things our hearts desire and as soon as we get them, we lose them, never to find them again.

If only we could place them somewhere safe, somewhere hidden from everything that could destroy them or steal them away from us.

In the end though, we discover that the only things we get to keep are the things we have placed upon God’s Hands. What we surrender to Him we shall have forever. What we learned to entrust upon Him we shall forever possess.

…but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves don’t break through and steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. – Matthew 6:20-21, WEB

“There is only one way to force the good God not to judge at all, and that is to present one’s self to Him with empty hands…I tell you that it is enough to recognize one’s nothingness and to abandon one’s self like a child in the arms of God.” – St. Therese of Lisieux

God has not come to seek those who are already full. He came to find those who have nothing more to offer than their poverty. He came to heal the broken, to find the lost, to fill those who thirst for love.

Blessed are they who are empty. They can still be filled. They can cry out for mercy, and they can receive with open arms.

For what do we possess but that which God has given? What good can we do but that which God has blessed?

We come to Him not with fullness and pride. He draws us like little children, and He carries the humble upon His arms.

Blessed are those who hunger…for they shall be filled. – Matthew 5:6, WEB

God’s silence is as full of love as His replies. – Jocelyn Soriano

Be not discouraged by God’s silence. Think not that love has vanished just because it could not be heard.

For God’s love is ever constant. He who watches over us night and day knows truly what we’re going through.

Even in times when He is silent, He is accomplishing for us much more than we could ever understand. For He is there. He is supporting us with unseen hands.

How difficult it is to hold back our answers from those we love the most! What strength is needed to keep ourselves from giving in too soon, lest we spoil the best gifts we desire to bestow.

But God is strong. And God is kind. His kindness is more than our own kindness. His silence is as beautiful as His replies.

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! – Matthew 7:11, WEB