Learning How God Delights in Us - 2nd Sunday of Lent - Episode 15
Join Dr. Gerry and Dr. Peter on this week's show as they discuss how difficult it is for us to believe that God delights in us. This is often due to the fact that those fallen human beings around us, often our parents, fail to affirm us for who we are. Learn how to better experience God's love in our own lives and how we might pass along the same blessing to others.
Overall Takeaway
It’s often difficult to believe that God delights in us because, as fallen human beings, we fail to affirm and delight in one another.
It’s often difficult to believe that God delights in us because, as fallen human beings, we fail to affirm and delight in one another.
Key Verses from Sunday Readings
“I will make of you a great nation,
And I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
So that you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you
And curse those who curse you.”
“He saved us and called us to a holy life,
Not according to our works
But according to His own design
And the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began.”
“While He was still speaking, behold,
A bright cloud cast a shadow over them,
Then from the cloud came a voice that said,
‘This is my beloved Son, with who I am well pleased;
Listen to Him.”
Where Catholicism Meets Psychology
We learn about God the Father through our earthly fathers or father-figures in our lives. If our own fathers were distant, absent or abusive, our understanding of God the Father is often erroneous.
Parents need to delight in their children, not simply provide for their physical needs and tolerate them. They need to cherish and value children for who they are, not what they do.
By blessing and affirming one another with kindness and gentleness, we can spread that blessing, which ultimately comes from God, to those around us.
God is not interested in micromanaging us; if we work to seek His will for our lives, He will delight in us because we are made in His image and likeness. We have much room for creativity in how we do His will.
Jesus, in His humanity, needed to hear His father say, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” We, in our humanity, need to feel that God delights in us as His beloved son or daughter.
Action Items
Use an image that speaks to you about receiving God’s love. While you’re praying, imagine yourself as a child sitting on God’s lap, having your feet washed by Jesus, swaddled as a baby in St. Joseph’s arms, or any other picture that can help you experience God’s love in a human way.
Bless or affirm someone this week, not for what they do, but for who they are.