Food is essential to human life and wellbeing. When our insides, our guts, let us down, food can become be hard to stomach -often literally. The pain associated with a diseased gut can have us writhing. A very powerful and external manifestation of when our gut lets us down is when things get so bad that a colostomy is the treatment.
We don't find it easy to talk about such things which adds to the stigma of now having to handle in a new way what we rarely have to face head-on -our faeces. It takes a lot of getting to used to. Our faeces now leaves our body through our abdomen and is collected in a bag.
It can have an enormous impact on our sense of being, our sexuality, our desirability, our body image, our confidence. Today as we hear again the story of Jesus washing the disciples' feet let us give thanks for all our bodily functions. As Christ washed dirty, dusty feet so too today if you feel undesirable and self-conscious, feel the embrace and love of the God who adores you: all of you.
Heavenly Father,
your Son washed the feet of his friends,
help me to feel your warm and tender embrace today.
Help me to love my body even when it lets me down.
Even in illness your image shines from deep within me. Awesome! Amen
This reflection is to accompany the spiritual space and Lenten Reflection at the Chapel of Christ the Healer, Cork University Hospital.
If you are in the chapel when you click on this page please feel free to add your prayer to the prayer card on the altar.
Even in illness your image shines from deep within me. Awesome! Amen
This reflection is to accompany the spiritual space and Lenten Reflection at the Chapel of Christ the Healer, Cork University Hospital.
If you are in the chapel when you click on this page please feel free to add your prayer to the prayer card on the altar.
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