Remembering Who You Are
“Draw strength from your divine filiation. God is a Father—your Father! Full of warmth and infinite love. Call him Father frequently and tell him, when you are alone, that you love him, that you love him very much, and that you feel proud and strong because you are his” (St. Josemaria Escriva, “The Forge”).
Editor’s note: This Lent, the Catholic Women in Business team is exploring the theme “Cultivating Virtue in the Desert.” Learn more here.
Shortly before Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert for 40 days and 40 nights, he was baptized by John the Baptist.
Imagine that sacred moment with me. After John lowers Jesus into the Jordan river, Jesus comes up out of the water, and the heavens open up above him. The Holy Spirit descends upon him in the form of a dove, and Jesus hears his heavenly Father announce to those present, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).
Imagine the love and the warmth. God the Father’s voice is not distant. It is not removed. Instead, it is present and filled with tremendous love for his son Jesus. It is like when a good friend boasts about you to others or a parent pulls out their child’s picture from their wallet and shows it to their co-workers.
What is astonishing about the Father’s words is that he spoke these words before Jesus had accomplished any miracles or preached a single word. Before there was anything by cultural standards to be proud of, God the Father loved Jesus and was pleased with him.
Having received such public and personal affirmation from the only person whose opinion mattered, Jesus was firmly rooted in his identity and mission. He knew who he was and whose he was. And so, when the Holy Spirit later led him into the desert to be tempted by the devil, it was the love of his Father and his awareness of his identity that sustained him.
Even when the devil began goading him by asking, “If you are the Son of God … ” (Matthew 4:3,6) Jesus recognized the lies for what they were. He had no question about his identity as a beloved Son.
Jesus’ confidence is our inheritance as well.
Our Inheritance
St. John the Apostle tells us, “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are” (1 John 3:1). By our Baptism, we become children of God—and not in a metaphorical or poetic way. We carry divine life within us and are God’s beloved.
Just like Jesus, it is critical for us to be rooted in this reality. The more we recognize our belovedness, the more we can withstand difficulties when they arise and can accept struggles with an open hand. We can come to believe what Father Edward G. Maristany writes in “Call Him Father”: “Absolutely everything in our lives fits into God’s plans for us, and those plans are ultimately for our well-being and happiness, even when the blows feel hard.”
How to Grow in Your Sense of Divine Filiation
It can be hard to believe in our belovedness when tragedies happen or when we are in a desert. In those moments, Fr. Maristany encourages us, “Take advantage of every difficulty you encounter to make an explicit act of trust in your Father God. Tell him: ‘My Father, you know best. If you want it, I want it too.’”
In this way, we model ourselves after Jesus, who uttered similar words in the Garden of Gethsemane: “Not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).
However, before the tragedy strikes, we can already begin living out of our divine filiation through some of these practical suggestions that Fr. Maristany offers. He recommends speaking to God the Father like you would speak with a parent by:
Sharing about your day—the big and little things.
Telling him about your friends.
Saying something that is hard to say.
Asking him to explain something you don’t understand.
Another spiritual writer, Henri Nouwen, offers additional suggestions for growing in awareness that we are God’s beloved, in his profound book “Life of the Beloved.” He recommends spending time with people and in communities that remind us of our chosenness and that we are precious in God’s eyes.
He also recommends the simple yet important practice of gratitude, of saying “thank you” to God, for having chosen us, and also to people who remind us of our goodness. He writes, “Gratitude is the most fruitful way of deepening your consciousness that you are not an ‘accident,’ but a divine choice.”
As we journey with Jesus during this Lent, let us often reflect back on Jesus’ and our own Baptism—on when the Father declared his pride and love for us for all to hear and welcomed us into his divine family. Let us remain rooted in that reality that we are his and that, regardless of the desert or valley we walk in, we are loved beyond measure.
Valentina Imhoff, MBA is a career coach helping women encounter God through their work. She has lived and worked in 6 countries and has 10 years of experience in manufacturing, dental research, state government, and people analytics. In addition to coaching, she facilitates online courses with Encounter Ministries and does part-time recruiting. When she isn’t working, you can find her snuggling on the couch with her husband, a good book and their crazy cat. You can connect with her at fiatcareercoaching.com.