I Take off the MASK!

Grief and Healing - Download the eBook

“Haven’t I commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9, WEBBE

When I was young I thought I had much courage. Later however, I found out that was not true. I was not really courageous. It was either I was just strong, or that I was totally ignorant of the risks I was taking.

Having courage takes a lot more than strength. It takes a lot more than being unaware of the dangers around you.

They are not brave who are quite capable of defeating their foes. They are not brave who foolishly enter into battles they know nothing about.

They are courageous who are well aware of the suffering they would go through, but who would face it anyway in order to fulfill a higher call. They are courageous who are in their worst day, fallen and aching, yet willing to rise again and again after each fall. They are courageous who are weak in the bed of sickness but instead of thinking about their pain think of their loved ones and those they may leave behind.

They who are truly brave are not those who are merely confident of their own strength. Those who are truly brave are those who know that there is a God who loves them, a God who will be their Strength when all else fails, a God who will never disappoint them when every source of comfort and hope seems far away.

“Courage is found in unlikely places.” – J.R.R.Tolkien

May you be content knowing you are a child of God. Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us. – Teresa of Ávila

This world is not at all perfect, and I am wounded at times in grief. But God is enough for me. He brings me healing, He fills my hunger, He puts my soul at ease.

Even in the worst of times, and especially in the most trying times, I can count on Him to be there for me. For He watches over me always, there is not a moment when I am ever out of His sight.

And so I cling to Him. With all my might I hold on upon His strong and loving arm.

In the darkest of days He will uphold me. He will protect me from my foes. He will be my shield in the fiercest of storms!

Where I hide from fear, He is my courage. Where I despair from darkness, He is my hope! Where I seek for happiness, He is my joy! Where I fall in loneliness, He is my Spouse.

God is my portion and my strength. In Him I shall ever hope and in hope I shall always believe. God is enough, more than enough. I do not deserve such a Love, but He fills me with happiness and my cup shall always overflow.

The LORD is my shepherd:
I shall lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
-Psalm 23, WEBBE

…Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother, “Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against. Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” – Luke 2:34-35, WEB

I have often wondered why God allows His beloved children to suffer. Why not prevent their tears from ever falling? Their hearts from ever being hurt?

One day however, He helped me realize that it is only through suffering that true love may be found. During happy days, when all is well and we need not sacrifice anything, we may be fooled into believing that contentment is goodness, and that friendship is merely being kind to those who are not causing us any discomfort or trouble.

Almost everyone loved Jesus when He was healing the sick and preaching the Good News. But when He was sentenced to be crucified, almost everyone abandoned Him and few were found at the foot of the cross, staying with Him just when it was darkest and hope seemed bleakest.

Suffering unmasks the true thoughts of our hearts. It enables us to see who really loves us. Suffering reveals what goodness and evil had been there all along.

The people we thought to be our friends may not really be our allies. People who seem righteous may not really be merciful and kind.

We find our true friends when we suffer. They are the ones who are there not only in good times, but those who remain even in the worst of times.

Suffering is a great grace; through suffering the soul becomes like the Saviour; in suffering love becomes crystallised; the greater the suffering, the purer the love. – St. Faustina

“We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls. ”- Mother Teresa

Try to withdraw from your usual activities from time to time. Spend some days without the rush, without trying to meet some goal or scheduled task.

Simply arise early and allow the day to unfold. Greet people with a smile. Be available for those who want to talk or to be with you.

Be there fully. With your whole heart.

Breathe. Notice the beauty of things around you. Take a good look at the people beside you.

You have been given time. How much of it do you actually spend in loving those sent your way?

You need not worry about being productive for now. No time is ever wasted when we spend that time to love.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven… a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; time for war, and a time for peace. – Ecclesiastes 3:1,7-8, WEB

This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their hearts. – Ephesians 4:17-18, WEB

Some people fail to see the truth because of simple ignorance. Nobody taught them what they ought to know. No one reached out to them to guide them and equip them with wisdom.

Some people however fail to see because they refuse to see the truth. They have hardened they own hearts and would not listen even if there are those who could guide them towards the right kind of thinking.

How important it is to seek the truth in order to find it! How essential to have the purity of heart that desires to have the wisdom to know what is good.

May our hearts be docile to God’s leading. May we not stubbornly cling to our pride but be opened in our understanding.

We don’t have to remain in darkness. We only need to acknowledge our blindness so we can be healed, so we can finally see the light!

“Purity of heart is what enables us to see.” – Pope Benedict XVI