A new 52 week series of reflections by Fr. Guillermo Serra, LC. See all chapters here.
A SECURITY DRESS
I passed by you, and I saw you… I spread my cloak over you and covered your nakedness (Ezekiel 16: 8)
REFLECTION
I am safe in God’s love, a faithful love that covers me and protects me.
Our hearts all hold memories of situations in which we have felt fear, coldness, and darkness. Remembering your childhood, you probably had a favorite blanket. When you covered yourself with it, you felt safe. You felt happy. You felt protected.
It was like a special kind of dress. You used it more to cover yourself, and not so much to draw the attention of others. Perhaps it was your most authentic dress, the one that made you feel the most real, or the one you needed at some specific moment in your first few years.
Wrapped in the simplicity of this blanket you felt protected against anything that could harm you. And as you read these lines, you vividly remember your blanket and the security that surrounded you in that dress.
Now, you still need a blanket that covers you, one that gives you security, one that is something personal, one that adapts to your needs, gives you warmth, protection and above all the certainty that with it, nothing can happen to you.
Our lives have been touched by the love of our parents and others. Thanks to them, we discovered that we are worthy of being loved. But we also have a profound intuition that these loves are reflections of a greater love.
Our limited experience of an unlimited love makes us aware of our own inner cry for an unconditional, eternal and perfect love. Although we may feel too weak or unworthy of such love, at the same time our hearts quietly scream, “love me when I least deserve it because that is when I need it the most!” This is the blanket that you need to be covered with.
God passes over your life, sees your heart, knows you, spreads his mantle over you and covers your inner nakedness to wrap you in his heart. In this way, the very weakness of your limitations makes you worthy of unlimited love. And, in all honesty, how many times do you feel weak every day?
Allow God to pass by, to show you who you are with your limitations which are precious in his eyes. Because of them, he can surround you with his merciful love and you can hear him say to you, “Do not be afraid. I am here. I will always cover and protect you.”
TEXT FOR MEDITATION
I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff comfort me (…) your goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life (Psalm 23: 4-6)
JOURNEY/ CHALLENGE
In your journal, write about the times in which you have felt the loving and unconditional presence of God most deeply, whether in events, people or experiences of prayer that have marked your life.
PRAYER
WHY DO YOU LOVE ME?
How easy it is to explain the reasons why I love you,
but how complex it is to find
the ones that lead you to love me.
There is nothing in me
that compares to your greatness;
and so, you simply love me for my poverty.
You embrace me, you console me, you care for me, you support me,
You take me by the hand when I have fallen to the ground.
You give me eternal love, I give you human love.
And I know that it is more pleasing to you than the sky and its beauty,
than the sun or the stars
Extract taken from the book Jesús a mi alma.
© Fr. Guillermo Serra, LC
I await your comments at saldetucielo@gmail.com . My books Jesús a mi alma and Sal de tu Cielo are available on Amazon, in Spanish only.
Past chapters of 52 Dresses: The Heart of a Woman as Seen by God are available in Spanish on my YouTube channel , and in English on the RC Live! blog.
