Detach with Love

This good Word came to me around Ash Wednesday and has been my guiding star through Lent. It came by way of my godson-nephew, priest-psychologist, companion in recovery, partner in powerlessness and penance, mentor-protege, sometime Ratzingerian-Baltasarian-Woytijan ally, more recently my Rohrian-Tobinian-Bergoglian (but always genial and charming) antagonist. DETACH WITH LOVE! This has served me well. With a gentle act of the will, I deliberately distance myself from any attachments that I sense are disordered. This has been very freeing. Specifically, I have prayed this mantra: "Jesus, I surrender myself to You. Take care of everything." This helps in every arena of my life. In personal relationships, if co-dependency tendencies...desire, resentment, jealousy, anxiety...assert themselves I detach, attach to our Lord, and reset myself to a free, pure relationship. Regarding my work concerns, I surrender EVERYTHING into God's Providence, I sigh with relief, and relax as I focus calmly on what is in front of me. If I feel separated from those dear to me, I recognize such as a wholesome, fruitful adjustment to a deeper, truer friendship. It has helped especially with my political interests: national power is now in the hands of those hostile to my religious freedom and my most cherished values; but I distance myself, concentrate on more local engagements, and enjoy an interior freedom. This exercise is most challenging for me in relation to the betrayal of our core beliefs from within the Church. This is rough. What does Michael Corleone do about Fredo? What does Jesus do about Judas? A good start is: detach; attach more deeply to our Lord and all He provides; reset towards the betrayer. This is a marvelous practice: every loss, disappointment, hurt becomes an occasion for a deeping in love...of our Lord and all those dear to us.