See What Love the Father has Bestowed

 

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From the belief that I am worthless, deliver me Jesus.- The Litany of Belovedness.

Some days we forget the simplest truth:
we don’t earn God’s love—we receive it. In God's eyes we are not worthless, we are loved.

That is the truth at the heart of today’s reading.
John doesn’t begin with us—our efforts or our failures.
He begins with God: His righteousness, His fidelity, His holiness.

Righteousness isn’t our achievement.
It’s the family resemblance of those begotten by God.
We love because He loved us first.
We walk in the light because the Light has claimed us as His own.

If you consider that God is righteous, John says,
then you know that everyone who acts in righteousness is begotten by Him.
Righteousness isn’t something we manufacture.
It is something we receive—
a gift planted in us by the One who calls us His own.

And then John pauses, and invites us to pause with him:
See what love the Father has bestowed on us…
that we may be called the children of God.

Not a small love.
Not a conditional love.
A love freely given—naming us, claiming us, making us His children.

This is the heart of the Christian life:
not fear, not striving, but identity.
We act in righteousness because we belong to God.
We love because we have been loved first.

Today, John invites us to remember who we are—
and to let that truth shape the way we walk through this day.

From the belief that I am not loved, deliver me Jesus.

A Prayer of Belovedness

Lord Jesus,
teach my heart to rest in the love I cannot earn.
Let Your light remind me that I am claimed,
Your righteousness remind me that I am begotten of the Father,
and Your mercy remind me that I am never forgotten.

Free me from every lie that says I am worthless or unloved.
Root me again in the truth that I am Your child—
named, chosen, and held by a love freely given.

As I walk through this day,
let my life reflect the One who loved me first.
Amen.

One Word Enduress - Hearing God’s Word and the Gift of Spiritual Direction

 

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In times past, God spoke through the prophets.
But now—now He speaks through His Son.
Not a distant word, not a fading echo,
but a living Word, flesh and blood,
Jesus Christ dwelling among us.

God is still speaking.
The real question is whether we have learned to listen—
to notice His presence,
to recognize His voice,
to receive His invitations in the ordinary moments of our lives.

This is where the gift of spiritual direction comes in.
Spiritual direction is not therapy,
and it is not coaching.
It is something deeper—
a sacred companionship.
Spiritual direction offers a quiet, safe space
where your soul can breathe,
where your heart can rest,
and where God’s gentle movements can finally be heard.

In a world overflowing with noise,
this kind of listening becomes essential.

Saint John warns us: “Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father.”
And we know how many voices surround us—
voices that distract, voices that deceive,
voices that promise light but leave us in shadows.

But the Word we heard from the beginning—
that Word remains.
That Word is true.
That Word is eternal life.
Spiritual direction helps us return to that Word,
to sift through the noise,
to recognize the voice of the Shepherd
who calls us by name.

John the Baptist understood this.
When asked, “Who are you?”
he did not claim greatness.
He simply said,
“I am the voice of one crying out in the desert:
Make straight the way of the Lord.”
He pointed beyond himself
to the One already among them.

And so it is for us.
We are voices—
voices in the deserts of our families,
our workplaces, our communities—
calling out:
Prepare your hearts.
Make straight the way.
Christ is here. Christ is coming.

We lend our voices to His invitation—
to remain in Him,
to let His anointing touch us,
to confess Him boldly as the Son of God.

Brothers and sisters,
only one Word endures.
Only one Light shines without fading.
Only one Son brings us into eternal life.
So let us cling to Christ.
Let us listen for His voice.
And let His light shine through us—
steady, radiant, true.

Amen.

Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ,
Word made flesh, Light of the world,
we confess You as the Son of God,
the One who brings us eternal life.

Keep us steady in Your truth.
Guard us from the voices that deceive.
Let what we heard from the beginning remain in us,
so that we may remain in You and in the Father.

Make us voices in the desert—
voices that prepare the way,
voices that point to You alone.

Shine through us, Lord,
And lead us always into the promise You have made:
life without end in the Father’s house.

Amen.

May His Face Shine Upon Us

 

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Last night my grandchildren, grandnieces, and grandnephews filled my daughter’s house.
A New Year’s Eve party. A sleepover.
Ten or twelve children under thirteen.
Excitement. Expectation. Enough energy to shake the walls.
God blessed my daughter with patience, peace, and love.

And today, as we step into a new year, we pray that same blessing—peace, love, protection—be poured upon the world.
For what God placed in that house—life, joy, hope—is what He desires for all His children.

On this New Year’s Day, the Church places before us Mary, Mother of God,
and the ancient blessing spoken through Moses:
“The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord let His face shine upon you.
The Lord give you peace.”

This blessing is not bound to one people.
It is for all nations.
For every heart longing for dignity, justice, peace, and goodwill.
It is God’s face shining upon the whole world.

Through Christ, we are no longer slaves.
We are sons and daughters.
Heirs of His promise.
And Mary shows us how to receive this gift—
quietly, faithfully, keeping it in her heart.

As the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God,
so we begin this year with praise on our lips,
hope in our hearts,
trusting His blessing rests upon us,
guiding the nations,
and making His salvation known to the ends of the earth.

Prayer of Blessing for the New Year

Lord God,
Through Christ, make us sons and daughters of Your promise.
Teach us to keep Your gift quietly, faithfully, in our hearts.

 Fill our homes with life, joy, and hope.
Blessed us with patience, peace, and love.

Bless all peoples, O Lord.
Bless every nation longing for dignity, justice, peace, and goodwill.
Shine Your face upon the whole world.

May we begin this year with praise on our lips,
hope in our hearts,
and trust in Your blessing

On this New Year’s Day, through Mary, Mother of God,
we receive the ancient promise spoken through Moses:
“The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord let His face shine upon you.
The Lord give you peace.”

Amen.