Behold: Recent Episodes
Ave Maria Press
Sr. Miriam James Heidland, SOLT, invites you on an Advent journey to walk with you as you explore familial wounds with the help of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph using "Behold" her beautiful guided journal for prayer and meditation. Let the Holy Family be your light through Advent as you receive the healing power of Christ.
Sr. Miriam shares a quote from Through the Heart of St. Joseph by Fr. Boniface Hicks, OSB:“As we place ourselves in the position of Jesus in St. Joseph’s arms, we can learn the greatest experience of fatherhood. We learn from St. Joseph what it means to be unconditionally loved. It is an invitation to be little and childlike. When we take the risk of being vulnerable, like a child, we get a taste of divine love and we experience a father’s tenderness for his son.”St. Joseph exemplifies the gift of masculinity. He was a strong, steadfast, and righteous man who lived in honesty and honor. In humility and awe, he was the protector of Mary and Jesus. You may see your own father reflected in the life of St. Joseph or you may deeply yearn for a father (or father figure) who is more like St. Joseph. Sr. Miriam encourages you to acknowledge the pain in your heart for your father and to pray that the Lord will bless him and bring you into deeper healing with him.Spending time with the Holy Family in prayer allowed Sr. Miriam to experience profound healing and restoration in her own heart. The Holy Family’s unconditional love reminds her of the love of God the Father. Even when our human fathers may not be present or affirming in our lives, the Lord is here and ready to tell us, “I love you and I am so proud of you.”
Sr. Miriam shares a beautiful quote from The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander:“Mary is not wearied with our littleness; her smile comes down to us like a benediction through the sea of flickering candles, she blesses our wild flowers withering at her feet. For each one of us is ‘another Christ’ each one, to Mary, is her only child. It is, therefore, not tedious to her to hear the trifles that we tell her, to look at the bruises we bring to her, and seeing our wound of sin to heal it.”In this epsiode, Sr. Miriam guides you to remember your mother. What was she like? What memories of her move your heart with joy? When was your mother not present to you? When did she not see you or meet your needs? The Lord is inviting you to surrender to him—and Our Lady—in these vulnerable and difficult places and to ask for healing to work through this relationship with your mother.No matter what has happened with your own mother, you have a spiritual mother, Mary, who LOVES you! She is kind, attentive, truthful, and desires to draw you closer to Jesus so that you might become fully alive in her son.
Sr. Miriam understands that when we recall experiences from our childhood or relationships with our parents that make us feel stressed or sad, we naturally build walls to shield us from the pain. The three most common defense mechanisms she sees are: “I’ve already dealt with that.”“My parents did the best they could. It wasn’t that bad.”“If I open that door to my heart, I don’t know what will happen.”Sr. Miriam will guide you through these defenses as you allow the Holy Spirit to accompany you while being cared for by the love of the Holy Family—Mary, Joseph, and Jesus.