My body has many gifts, but also contains parts which I am less than impressed with – scars, pains, eyes and ears that do not always work. I have learned, and continue to learn, how to love my body. All of my body composes part of who I am, and I would need to re-understand myself and re-learn many things if I lost any part.
Yet how often am I annoyed with or wish some members of Christ’s body weren’t present? Jesus is the perfect member of his body; Jesus makes us all holy in our strengths and weaknesses. Am I willing to love myself in both my strengths and limitations? Can I love others as they are and for who they are?
In prayer, remember a person you struggle to love. Imagine Jesus walking with them in their journey and pray that they may know His love more deeply.
—Michael Tedone, S.J., a Jesuit of the California Province, is studying philosophy at Loyola University Chicago.