We live in a complicated world full of so many options it can become overwhelming. This is why the simple message delivered to women in the Benedicta Leadership Seminar in Malvern was so striking.
“What I loved the most about the speakers today is the simplicity of their messages,” said Massachusetts native, Barbara. “Johnnette’s message is to give it all over to God and entrust ourselves to Mary. Father Cromly’s simple plan – you, plus the cross, equals happiness – I loved it!” Especially helpful for Barbara was the opportunity to focus on her gifts. A genuine lover of people who tends to see the good even in the worst people, she believes people go astray because we all have a hurt of some kind.
According to Father Cromly, it’s the cross that heals those hurts. “The cross is not an injection of suffering, he said, but healing. That was a bingo moment for me. That’s something I can keep in my head – the image of his drawing of a stick person plus a cross equals a happy face. The cross is healing; it’s not suffering.”
She loved Father Cromly’s style and how he refused to accept a superficial answer when the women were asked to identify what hurt was keeping them from doing what they needed to do. “A few things came to my head, and then he gave some examples and I realized that I wasn’t looking deep enough. He encouraged us to keep digging until we got to the root of it,” Barbara said.
For her, it all came back to one thing – she doesn’t feel 100 percent lovable. “All of the mistakes I’ve made in life, with men, drinking – I was looking for love, looking for relationship. I just never felt lovable.” But now that she knows this, she can focus on the one point that really matters – in God’s eyes, she IS 100 percent lovable. “I know God loves me and that’s the most important thing. The other stuff doesn’t really matter. So let it go!”
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