Scripture for Your Inner Outcasts

Transcript

"What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs. If we leave him alone, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation."

Welcome back to Scripture for Your Inner Outcasts. Today is March 28th, 2026, Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent. Today we are joined by Justin Brown. Justin is a Catholic therapist licensed in Illinois and Texas.

Today's scripture comes from the Gospel of John, chapter 11, verses 47 and 48. "What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs. If we leave him alone, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation." If it feels safe to your managers, I would like to speak directly to you now, to you exiled parts, the inner ones who have been pushed aside or hidden away, because somewhere along the way, it felt safer for you to disappear than to be seen. You might be an inner outcast who learned early that your needs created tension, that your pain disrupted the system, or that your presence made things harder for the people you depended on. You may feel like an inner lost sheep who wandered not because you wanted to, but because no one came looking. Or perhaps you carry the ache of an interloper marked by shame, believing your wounds make you unsafe to touch, unsafe to love, unsafe to be included. You might be an inner prodigal who assumes you crossed the line a long time ago, or simply a sinner with the belief that your existence threatens peace or the fragile stability of those around you. If that's you, you might hear today's gospel not just with your ears, but a little deeper. You, dear exiled part, you may recognize this fear. You may know what it is like to believe that it's something true and good is allowed to come too close. If healing is allowed to happen, if love is allowed to reach you, then something terrible could follow. You might carry the belief that your being seen will cause loss. That your healing will cost others too much, that your freedom will bring danger or collapse. Somewhere along the way, it may have seemed true that staying hidden was the only way to prevent danger.

And it makes sense that you believe this. You learned it while trying to survive. But let me offer a gentle invitation to hear something different and true. This gospel is not telling us that Jesus is dangerous. It's revealing that love threatens false kingdoms, kingdoms built on fear, control, and silence. Jesus does not come to destroy what is good. He exposes what is already fragile. He doesn't take away belonging, but he restores it. When leaders fear losing their land or their nation, it's not because Jesus steals, but because his presence reveals where love has been replaced by self protection. You may believe that if Jesus comes close, something will be taken away like approval, stability, order, safety. But, you exiled part, Jesus's closeness does not put you at risk of erasure or of losing anything, but rather allows for healing, restoration and integration. He does not heal you at the expense of others. He heals because you matter, even when healing feels inconvenient, even when it challenges the systems that learned to function without you. You might still believe if I'm fully seen, something bad will happen. Jesus answers that fear quietly and firmly. If you remain unseen, something precious is already being lost. You're not a threat to God's kingdom. You're the reason he came. You're not the danger that others fear. You are delighted in your healing does not bring destruction. It restores what is good. If you feel scared, small or unsure, exiled part, that's okay. Jesus meets you where you are and he won't rush. He doesn't force you to be close or demand you change. He simply comes near and lets you know that you do not have to stay in the dark in order to keep the peace.

Once again, that was Justin Brown. Listeners are invited to contact him through his page at catholictherapist.com, which is linked in the description of this episode.

Let's end with our invocations. Our Lady, our Mother, Untier of Knots, pray for us. Saint Joseph, pray for us. Saint John the Baptist, pray for us.