Healing The Wounds

"I have loved you everlastingly, so I have kept for you my mercy. I will restore you again, and you shall be rebuilt." - Jeremiah 30:3-4

Around my junior year of college, I was on vacation in the Dominican Republic visiting my family. My parents were playing a video of my 5th birthday party and I seemed so happy. I actually remember some of it. The next day I was flying back to New York and my dad asked to speak to me privately before I left. He told me he was filled with sadness as he watched the video because he wasn't with me in any of the scenes. During that time my father wasn't a follower of Jesus and was more concerned with his own life and lifestyle than he was with his family. He told me he was sorry because he realized instantly that I grew up with an emptiness in my heart since he wasn't really there for me when I was little. I've had him always with me since he was called by Christ when I was about 11 years old, but until he said that to me that day, I never realized I had that pain and loneliness inside of me. As he spoke to me, so tenderly, asking for my forgiveness, I broke down in tears uncontrollably. It was like someone opened a faucet and my heart hurt so badly. I never knew I carried all of that so deeply inside since I was a little girl. We cried together and prayed together asking God to heal all those wounds, all the results of the sins people carry and pass on to someone else.

We all suffer from so many wounds. You have those you know about that are fresh, you have those older ones that have left scars, but you might even have those that you suffered so long ago that your mind has suppressed them. So many people even carry around the sorrows their mothers endured while they were in the womb and don't understand why they find themselves sad and lonely at times. This is why we need so much of Jesus, because He is the cure for all wounds, no matter the cause and no matter how deep. The Lord loves us and wants to see us healed. He has promised to not only heal, but to restore and rebuild us in His Word, and we need to seek that healing. And in His great mercy, He is even capable of taking us back to the beginning to undo those things that have scarred us so deeply. For King Hezekiah, God actually put back the hands of time to restore his life… so what can't your God, who loves you so much, do for you if you ask?

Today's Prayer:
My God, like a loving father, You pick us up when we're hurt and cure our wounds. I feel like a child in Your arms who is vulnerable and needs so much of You to make me better. Please see my pain and be my only joy and consolation. In Jesus' Name we pray, amen.

Go To Confession!

"If we confess our sins, He who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all wickedness." - 1st John 1:9

At the start of Lent, I urged you all to go to confession and wash away sin and the guilt and remorse it causes. Now, just a few days before the start of Holy Week, I want to urge you again if you haven't already. During this week 2,000 years ago, Jesus gave up His life so that you and I could be cleansed of the wrong we do. More importantly, His death wasn't about making us do something to make up for our sins, but to heal us from the pain of sin. God is loving and knows the regret and the heaviness that we inflict upon ourselves when we fall into things we shouldn't have. It leads to conflicts within ourselves, with others, and with God. Through confession, you are bringing to the light those things that need to be washed away, so that in the Name of Jesus Christ you can be forgiven, healed, and brought back into full communion with the Lord… no matter what you've done or how long it's been since your last confession. God is longing to forgive you and heal you.

Since it's the weekend and the start of Holy Week, churches have confession on Saturdays and during most of this week. Please call your church, go online, or look at the bulletin to find out when the sacrament of reconciliation (confession) is being held. Spend time meditating on the areas in your life where you have fallen short and bring those things to the Lord.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, You died for our sins on the cross and it is only right that we take full advantage of Your sacrifice by confessing our sins. Search me Lord and show me what I need to bring before You for cleansing and healing. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Forgive Others

"If you forgive others their wrongs, your Father in Heaven will also forgive yours. If you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive you either." - Matthew 6:14-15

A good thing to do throughout the day and especially before you go to sleep is to examine your conscience. I like to think about everything I did, everyone I spoke to and think if I offended anyone. A sin is any action that lacks love, so if I said anything mean about someone, if I judged someone, or even if I chose not to help someone when I could have, it's all sin. Thinking about all the bad I do during the day really weighs heavily on my heart. It hurts to think of the times I offend God. I especially feel horrible when I find myself judging someone right off the bad. It's scary and sad to think that's the initial reaction that comes from my heart. But as evil as I am, I really know that God is loving and forgiving. And this is why we all need to really pray for help in forgiving others. I, like many of you, carry around wounds for things people have done to me, things that get me upset just to think about! Some people have hurt us so bad that there's no way we could ever think of even seeing them again, but who are we to hold things against others when we do worse to God and He is always, always forgiving? Forgiveness doesn't mean you have to condone what that person did to you. It only means that you have decided not to hold the grudge and live free of the weight on your shoulders. When you do this, God forgives you for all of your offenses. Then you would be free to have a more open relationship with God and get to know Him better, instead of carrying around pain for the grudges you are harboring. We all want to be better people and this is one of the most important steps in achieving that. We can't be in peace with God unless we're in peace with those around us.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I think of people who have hurt me and I get angry, but then I am humbled when I think of how You have forgiven me time after time. You call me to be perfect, like our Father is perfect… although that is so hard for me to attain, help me to get one step closer each day. In Your Name we pray, amen.

Believe In The Blood and Wounds

"Then He said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here and see my hands; stretch out your hand and put it into my side. Doubt no longer but believe.' Thomas then said, 'You are my Lord and my God.' Jesus replied, 'You believe because you see me, don't you? Happy are those who believe although they do not see.'" - John 21:27-29

The apostle Thomas had not been there when Jesus appeared to the rest of the apostles after His resurrection. When he heard of Jesus appearing, he said, like many of us, that he will not believe until he sees and feels the wounds of the cross with his own eyes and hands. That's why when Jesus appeared again, and Thomas was there, He asked him to touch the wounds for himself.

There are so many of us who need to see and feel in order to believe. It isn't enough that Jesus, being holy and without blame, had to suffer a painful death on the cross for us, but we also need to see and feel. Jesus, in His infinite mercy never rebuked Thomas for His lack of faith, but answers his questions and asks Thomas to come forward. If you doubt, you need to take the example of Thomas and go before Jesus to witness the marks of the Passion for yourself. For when Thomas said he needed proof, Jesus called him forward, as you need to do to respond to the call of Jesus. No one who doubts will believe by staying away, but will see the Lord by getting up and moving towards Him to experience the fruits of the resurrection. You are not punished for your lack of faith; today Thomas is a Saint. You are punished for staying away when you know you should get closer to the many wounds Jesus endured for you. Whether you choose to believe it or not, Jesus did die for you.

And for you who believe without needing to see or feel His holy wounds, work so that all around you may also believe. Pray so that His most Holy blood was not shed in vain, but that the wonderful act of the crucifixion may bring all to Him in love and unity with God. If we don't do our part for this, we are letting the devil blot out and erase the memory of the Passion of the Christ. He did not endure death for nothing.

Today's Prayer:
My Lord Jesus, open our eyes so that we may forever have before us the blood You shed and the wounds You experienced for us. Set before my eyes the sores on Your back that were ripped open with pieces of bone tied to whips, the wounds around your head from Your crown of thorns that pierced Your pure skin, letting blood run into Your eyes not letting You see as You walked, the wounds and bruises on Your shoulders from carrying my cross, the horrible holes created in Your flesh from rusty nails piercing Your hands and feet, and the cut from a sword on Your side that we helped give You on the cross. My God, You endured so much for us, please don't ever let me forget the pain You bore willingly out of love. In Your Name, we pray.