The extraordinary existence of each person—flaws and all

A Reflection for the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist

Find today’s readings here. 

I have a teenager at home, and we are all living through the awkward stages of development. Much of his social anxiety revolves around fitting in, acting cool and looking the part. I often tell him that he is perfect just the way he is. I truly believe that, and not because I am his (doting) mother.

Having survived adolescence myself, I know that I would be kidding myself if I thought that his social worries and doubts would evaporate after the dreaded teenage years. Indeed, with social media and the billion-dollar beauty industry, it’s no surprise that sometimes it is easy to forget how extraordinary each of us is, flaws and all.

Today’s responsorial psalm sends an important and meaningful message: that each of us is perfect because we are God’s creation, his work of art. He knows what lies on each of our hearts, and the path we will take each day. He has molded each one of us individually to bring gifts and graces to this world and to one another. God knows our blemishes yet loves us just the way we are. We are blessed and precious because we are his.

At last weekend’s Outreach conference this exact sentiment was shared in a beautiful prayer written by Harry Rose and directed to the parents of L.G.B.T.Q. children and, of course, to God. A portion of the prayer read:

Thank you for making ME me. Thank you for seeing me, for struggling with me, and for knowing me for my whole, true self. 
Thank you also for knowing and loving and walking with the parts of me that you might not understand. 
And thank you, most of all, for your parental love that is both boundless and protective. 

May we all go forward today and every day with that prayer in gratitude to him for knowing us completely, inside and out. May we be proud and confident in the person that God created in us to be, because we are all God’s children and wonderfully made.

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