NBVM Novena Day 9: Healing the Inner Child
On the 9th Day of Novena focusing on children, Fr. Paul Kee shared both psychological and spiritual insights on the forgotten child within us – the Inner Child.
Playing the song ‘The Greatest Love of All’ by Whitney Houston, he explained the many meanings we can learn from the song. The song is neither about the goodness of children or remembering our past childhood nor going back in time and reliving our childhood.
It is about relating to the inner child within us. The inner child that may be hurting, seeking love, care and intimacy. Unless we embrace and heal the inner child within us – only then can we love our neighbours as ourselves.
I found the greatest love of all
Inside of me
The greatest love of all
Is easy to achieve
Learning to love yourself
It is the greatest love of all
Learning to love yourself is not selfish love but rather about self-love and self-care. It is about appreciating the inner goodness since we are all made in the image and likeness of God. Each one of us is unique and good and loveable; worthy of being loved.
This song reminds us of the following:
1. Many people have a hurt inner child. They have been emotionally or psychologically bruised. There is still hope to heal these past hurts – forgive those who have hurt you.
He recapped a time in his life when he blamed his parents for not giving enough- like having music lessons. He realized after some time that it is not the fault of his parents but rather, they could not afford it because putting food on the table was more important. He forgave them.
2. Our inner child must be fed daily with fun and laughter. Cultivating a sense of humour is not an option; we need to laugh often. Life is too fragile to take it seriously- “don’t sweat the small stuff”.
“As you focus more on becoming more peaceful with where you are, rather than focusing on where you would rather be, you begin to find peace right now, in the present.” Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
He suggested doing fun things for people we like , be with people who exude positive energy and can motivate us to find meaning in everything we do. Find a reason to get up in the morning with joy and look forward to the day.
All our inner child needs healing. We need to nurture and foster the inner child by doing activities that give meaning to life. Then, we can look after the inner child of family and neighbours. Because when we are comfortable in our own skin and stay away from all that is ugly, we would have found the greatest love of all inside of us and in others.
Skit by Primary Students
