Our world is full of wounded souls; each longing to be listened to and loved. It is not evident to the naked eye; they hide their pain quite well! Life has brought happiness and joy, but also many disappointments and hurts that scream, deep within our hearts, and go unheard.
We are all among the “walking wounded.” We do our best to hide that part of us by keeping busy, not allowing a quiet moment into our lives. We push ourselves to exhaustion, hoping we can just fall into bed and sleep, not facing the pain we try to ignore.
Our God wants to touch us and heal our pain. He longs to set us free from the hurts life has inflicted upon us. When Christ walked this earth He saw into the heart and history of each person. His look penetrated deeply into their soul and invited them to healing and wholeness. His look was one full of love and compassion, holding out a “hope” that things could be better. “A bruised reed he will not break, a smoldering wick he will not quench” (Mt 12 vs 20).
Jesus heals today: through His Church and Her Sacraments, through prayer and His people. He is looking for generous souls who are willing to be His hands, His eyes, His mouth, His heart. Elizabeth Leseur was such a person. She took upon herself an apostolate to souls. She wanted to give to people “a little of what God has placed within me.” She saw in others the effects that suffering had inflicted. She wanted to bring to them the love and healing of God, even without speaking of Him. She spent time at the feet of Jesus, in the Eucharist and in prayer, learning how to love and see each individual as God does. She trusted in the Providence of God, that He would equip her with the graces necessary to minister to each soul that He sent into her life. She also united her own sufferings to those of Christ’s, realizing the redemptive power it held to obtain necessary graces for others.
Our good God is counting on us today, to bring His love and healing balm to His people. St. Teresa of Avila penned these words:
“Christ has no body but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which He looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which He blesses this world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are His body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”
To be another Christ, we must be in communion with Him, by receiving Him in the Holy Eucharist, spending time with Him in Eucharistic Adoration, and in prayer. We cannot heal the wounds within our own souls, or begin to offer the healing love of Christ without spending time with the Divine Physician. There He will touch and heal the inner recesses of our souls. He will also begin to reveal to us the “secret love for souls and deep knowledge of them.” He will fill us with His love and perfect the way to interact with others. He will use our own experiences of hurts and disappointments to bring about a compassion for “the other.” He will give us His heart to pour His love and compassion on His children.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and God of all encouragement, who encourages us in our every affliction, so that we may be able to encourage those who are in any afflictions with the encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God” (2 Cor 1 vs 3-4).
Let us not delay in becoming a generous soul like Elizabeth and bring the healing love of God to all we meet. Elizabeth Leseur, Servant of God, please pray for us!
You had me at Elisabeth Leseur- she is a true sister of mine- her diary is incredible and has been life changing for me. She has so much to say to women of our time who find themselves in families and a culture increasingly hostile to faith.
ReplyDeleteHow humbling and yet a daunting task to be the hands, feet, eyes and body of Christ to other people. Help me, oh Eucharistic Jesus, to be up to the task at hand. Fill me with your love, compassion, peace and joy in order to share them with others.
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