Finding myself is a theme that shows up in my Daily Examen this Lenten. This is part of stripping away the many layers of me as I draw nearer to God. All the distractions that I have placed upon myself believing they will bring me closer to God, are being peeled off.
A part of my journey in life is seeking happiness, love and saintliness (holiness). These are graces I have prayed for the past few months – graced awareness.
What is graced awareness?
Happiness is not an achievement; love is not an achievement; holiness is not an achievement. They are each a grace—a grace called awareness, a grace called looking, observing, and understanding.
https://www.demellospirituality.com/a-grace-called-awareness/:
In our daily walk as a Christian/Catholic, it’s so easy to get blogged down by life. Taking the time to be mindful, watchful, alert and awake takes practice and time. In asking God for the grace of awareness, one can see everything in our daily lives reflected back. With the help of His divine grace one can see the authentic self without the distortions of layers upon layers of our world piled upon us.
“Set free from human judgment, we should count as true only what God sees in us, what he knows, and what he judges. God does not judge as man does. Man sees only the countenance, only the exterior. God penetrates to the depths of our hearts. God does not change as man does. His judgment is in no way inconstant. He is the only one upon whom we should rely. How happy we are then, and how peaceful! We are no longer dazzled by appearances, or stirred up by opinions; we are united to the truth and depend upon it alone. I am praised, blamed, treated with indifference, disdained, ignored, or forgotten; none of this can touch me. I will be no less than I am. Men and women want to play at being a creator. They want to give me existence in their opinion, but this existence that they want to give me is nothingness. It is an illusion, a shadow, an appearance, that is, at bottom, nothingness. What is this shadow, always following me, behind me, at my side? Is it me, or something that belongs to me? No. Yet does not this shadow seem to move with me? No matter: it is not me. So it is with the judgements of men: they would follow me everywhere, paint me, sketch me, make me move according to their whim, and, in the end, give me some sort of existence … but I am disabused of this error. I am content with a hidden life. How peaceful it is! Whether I truly live this Christian life of which St. Paul speaks, I do not know, nor can I know with certainty. But I hope that I do, and I trust in God’s goodness to help me.”
—Bishop Jacques-Benigne Bossuet, Meditation For Lent, p. 99-101
May God Bless each of us as we journey towards the cross with humbleness and love🙏💕
Be Inspired! 