Dear Matthew,

I am so sorry that you feel so unloved.  God does love you, and He never would ignore anyone who prays with a sincere heart; He hears your prayers and has plans for your good.  There are lies being told to you in your mind through the evil one who wants you to despair.  It is a trick of demonic origin.  He wants you to blame God and see Him as unloving.  The Devil is an accuser and he wants to draw you away from God by getting you to blame God.  

The truth is that God so loved you that He gave His only Son for you to die on a Cross to show you the absolute depth of His love.  He did this for all of us, but He did it decidedly for you.  He thought about you as He was weighing the cost of the sacrifice and decided that you were worth it.  Only a loving Father would do that.  If you are struggling with:

• doubt
• depression
• suffering, and
• other troubles . . .

please turn to God and offer everything back to Him (offer Him your doubts, suffering, all of it); do it for someone who has it even worse than you.  Pay it forward as Jesus gave his life for others, do the same.  Your struggles are not meaningless or worthless, but they are the very essence of love when you unite them to the Cross.  What awaits you in the end is Resurrection and glory.  Don’t believe the lies but believe Christ.  There is a way to turn around your perspective in these circumstances.  And if you haven’t been to Confession in a while, go!

Lastly, the best way to correct your mind is to immerse yourself in the Holy Scriptures.  Take this Lent to read the Gospel of Matthew and Mark and let the life of Christ fill your mind and give you peace.  

The troubles won’t end but the courage and joy to live even in difficult times will be yours.

Peace,