Be. Loved.

On this day of Saint Valentine’s Day, so focused on love, know that you are God’s beloved. No matter what vocational stage you are in life—single, religious, married or widowed—sister, you are valuable and worthy in the eyes of the Lord. Cultivating your relationship with the Lord is key to loving and being loved by Him.

Words

One of my favorite things in life are words. I started to speak using sentences and challenging the vocabulary of those around me when I was just over a year old. In college, my studies consisted of English language and literature (along with some linguistics), classical languages, and theology. Journaling and words of affirmation are among some of my passions.

Even though words can be used for good, and to communicate and articulate our thoughts and beliefs, they can also be misconstrued and hurt others.

Jesus, The Word, came for our salvation, communicating God’s love to us in truth, beauty, and goodness: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14).

Reading the Bible is one way I like to grow my relationship with God whether it is on my own, in a small group, or in a prayerful setting such as a retreat.

Drawn Retreat

Over the past few years, my faith and prayer life have been tested. My heart has been heavy with trauma and grief for quite some time. Throughout this difficult grief journey, there have been many opportunities which God has provided for my healing, including attending the Blessed is She Drawn Retreat with one of my dear friends.

Attending the Drawn Retreat brought a lot of mixed emotions for me. Taken from Matthew 25:6, the theme was “Come out to meet Him,” which we explored encountering Christ through The Parable of the Ten Virgins. At first, I found this theme to be challenging as we navigated what it meant to be a bride of Christ. There was a lot of language surrounding weddings, which is related to a lot of grief for me. But some of the reflection questions encouraged me to trust the Lord in the process and attentively listen:

What would I like Jesus to draw out of me?
What is the goal of our spiritual life?
How do we wait [until we encounter Jesus at the heavenly banquet]?

Eventually, I saw this time on retreat as an opportunity to pour my heart out to the Lord, and truly have a heart to Heart about my hopes, fears, and wounds. The importance of the retreat’s theme became known to me through one of the most prominent words: beloved. This word appeared on a simple mirror which was part of the decor in one of the main retreat spaces. Looking into this mirror was God’s message to me (and other attendees too): Be. Loved.

From Beloved To Be Loved

Beloved. It can be a noun or an adjective. Someone is called beloved when she or he is loved very much by someone who cares very deeply about the person. Not only is it a term of affection, it is most definitely a word of affirmation.

One of the most important contexts this word appears in is found throughout the Bible, especially when God says, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). Occurring right after Jesus’ Baptism, the use of “beloved” demonstrates God the Father’s love for Jesus to go out and fulfill His earthly mission. Through our relationship from our Baptisms with our Triune God, we, too, are called beloved daughters with whom our Heavenly Father is well pleased.

Present + Perfect

After reflecting upon being the beloved, the phrase “to be loved” emerged. “To be loved” is the present perfect tense, meaning the action took place at a previous time, and is completed at the time of speaking. Pondering the words of present perfect tense, there are two separate words: “present” and “perfect.”

God called me to the Drawn Retreat to take a step out of my normal routine and environment to cultivate a deeper relationship with Him as His beloved daughter. God called me to be more present to His love. He doesn’t want me or anyone to dwell on the past or worry about the future. And He also called me to know that His love is perfect. This is something I am definitely still learning and growing to understand, including learning to trust Him with beautiful plans for my life!

Cultivating Your Relationship with Jesus

Whatever your plans are this Valentine’s Day, take some time to be with Jesus. Be gentle with yourself as you develop your relationship with the Lord. Once we can know and experience Christ’s love, love will be able to flow from our hearts, words, and actions into our lives. Taking time to reflect with the Lord upon what is in our hearts and minds will allow us to love and be loved.

Ways to Love and Be Loved

Below are five simple ways to love and be loved by the Lord:

Pray // I learned about the Sisters of Life’s Litany of Trust on the Drawn Retreat. It is a love letter from the reader to Jesus, culminating with, “That I am Your beloved one, Jesus I trust in You.” It doesn’t mean that we have to be perfect. Just to be. Be loved by Him.
Go to Eucharistic Adoration // Allow Jesus to tell you, “I love you, [YOUR NAME],” and respond, “Jesus, I love you too.”
Attend a Weekday Mass // MassTimes.org is a great tool to help find local Mass times near you.
Write a Letter // Who needs to hear words of love from you? Write a letter to someone you care deeply about, whether they are here on earth or up in Heaven.
Attend a Catholic Retreat // Blessed is She’s upcoming retreat, New, invites us to fall in love with the Lord all over again, or for the very first time. It is based on Ezekiel 36:26: “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

Amy G. walks her earthly pilgrimage enjoying Eucharistic Adoration, being a godmama, dancing, baking, and writing. Some of her passions include the sanctity and dignity of life as well as mental health. Professionally, Amy has a Master of Divinity with a background in Catholic education and ministry.