I was grateful to be in the perfect place spiritually to receive His message that fall weekend. My spiritual life had largely consisted of God asking me to allow myself to be seen by Him — the good, the bad, and the ugly — and follow Him as the Good Shepherd into the reality of my brokenness and woundedness.

As young adults, we often look to be seen, known, and loved by the world and are pulled away from God in every aspect of our lives. Whether it’s striving for likes on social media, looking to relationships to define our worth, or looking for gratification from people who don’t care about our souls, the culture tells us that focusing on God is not what we need. It’s in our human nature to desire to be seen, known, and loved, but it’s the orientation of those desires that matters. In a world that tells us only our best parts should be seen, God calls us to live differently.

It's easy for me to fall into the trap of trying to make myself look good for others and seek their validation. God sees us comprehensively; not only the good but also the bad parts of us. I often struggle to allow God to see me out of fear that He will turn me away because of the parts of me even I don’t like. One speaker brought up how in the story of the woman at the well (John 4), the Samaritan woman walks around clouded with shame. Jesus shows her He sees and knows everything about her, even her past, yet meets her with nothing but love and compassion. He does the same with us.

Another point that struck me is that it’s not enough to allow ourselves to be seen, known, and loved by God; we can’t experience His love to the fullest if we don’t also see and know God for who God truly is. As John 10:14 says, “I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me.” Everything in our lives shapes how we perceive God.

My own life experiences and the deep woundedness they caused have shaped my perception of God’s reality and His fatherhood. However, it is when we discover who the Father truly is that we discover who we are as sons and daughters. It is only in seeing and knowing God that we can fully allow ourselves to be seen, known, and loved by Him and be transformed.

Oscar Rivera, one of the speakers at the conference, said, “The life of the Church was built on the backs of those who spent their whole lives being known and knowing God.” Frequenting the sacraments and reading Scripture teaches us the reality of who God is.

It’s precisely when I’ve immersed myself in the Bible and frequented reconciliation and Mass that I have learned the most about the truth of our all good, all loving, and all merciful God. We must be courageous in allowing Him to see us, know us, and love us. To be seen allows us to be known, and to be known allows us to accept His love.

The conference was a beautiful reminder that God desires to see, know, and love us. We just need to let Him.