“Restoring Dignity Rooted in Truth”
It’s no secret at Restoration that we’re BIG fans of St. John Paul II. There are so many things to love about this great role model for our times including his love for the family and relationships, his great capacity for suffering with joy, his fatherly desire to fight for the weakest and most vulnerable, and the intentionality he displayed in interactions with literally anyone (many people describe feeling like they were the only person in the room when speaking with him).
But for us, it all comes down to his foundational belief in the particular uniqueness and value of the human person. EVERY human person.
Looking around him, St. John Paul II saw a world that did everything in its power to degrade the human person, teaching anyone and everyone that there was nothing unique, nothing beautiful, nothing special, nothing sacred about them. He was driven by a desire to call forth the great dignity of every person he encountered, a dignity that belonged to them simply because they existed. He saw people in truth, as men and women possessing great value that lay outside of their accomplishments, their success, or their failures, and he wanted them to live the lives of abundance and freedom they were created to live.
He saw people who were loved by a merciful Father who sent His Son to bring them home, once and for all.
We’d like to say that we live in different times, but the truth is that our world looks a lot like the one St. John Paul II found himself in.
How many times have you heard the lie that there is nothing unique about you? How many times has someone else told you that there is nothing beautiful about you? How many times have you told yourself that there is nothing sacred, nothing special, nothing important about you?
“The evil of our times consists in the first place in a kind of degradation, indeed in a pulverization, of the fundamental uniqueness of each human person” - Cardinal K. Wojtyla.
Although St. John Paul II (previously Cardinal K. Wojtyla) wrote these words more than 50 years ago, sometimes they feel truer than ever. And it is our desire to change that.
In the wee hours of the creation of Restoration, we were challenged by a mentor to establish our purpose statement. We arrived at our meeting with a lengthy, long-winded, heap of good intentions. After reading our first drafts, our mentor gently blew some holes through the fluff.
“Good thoughts... but let’s get to it! What is Restoration really about? Tell me in a sentence.”
As we sat thinking in a moment of grace, a clear answer came quickly, a desire at the heart of our yes.
Restoring dignity, rooted in truth.
It is the purpose, mission and great hope of Restoration to restore the dignity of each person we encounter, rooted in the truth of Jesus (the way, the truth and the Life! Jn 14:6) and totally dependent on Him. We desire to see each client the way St. John Paul II did, the way Jesus does.
“We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures, we are the sum of the Father's love for us and our real capacity to become the image of His Son Jesus” - St. John Paul II.
It is Jesus, Divine Healer and Prince of Peace, who provides the true healing we all desire. The same Jesus who raised the dead to life, cast out demons, who made the blind see and the deaf hear is alive - and He abides in each session with us.
This practice was formed with the great dignity of the human person at its core and our desire is to bring about renewal, one man or woman, one couple, one family at a time. We are passionate about working to remove obstacles that get in the way of each and every client experiencing the dignity and beauty of who they are, a dignity that leads to freedom and flourishing.
St. John Paul II, pray for us!
