Want Detachment?

After praying for detachment, Elizabeth Estrada was surprised to discover that some people and things she'd come to count on suddenly became unavailable.

In the last couple of months, I have felt on my heart that I needed to detach from a variety of things. I thought that maybe that would help me become closer to Jesus and perhaps help me to understand the plans He has for me.

So, I often took these thoughts to prayer, and many times to Adoration. I would especially ask Him after receiving the Eucharist. At first, I didn’t really notice that I was detaching from things, so I thought I needed to figure out what was going on.

As time continued to pass, dear friends just stopped replying to texts, cards, or messages. Even after talking on the phone and sending emails with my questions of what was going on, I didn’t receive a response. They never followed up.

This really caused me grief. I am grieving the loss of these friendships I had for over ten years. I even took this to my spiritual director, who did a great job of consoling me.

Then one day, the Holy Spirit opened my eyes, “Remember when you prayed for detachment to be closer to the Lord? This is what happened." It made sense. Instead of relying on these great women for support and guidance, I was to first go to the Lord. As a result, our relationship did grow closer.

After this, I also noticed that I had many challenging months with my budget and trying to make ends meet. It seemed that every time my savings account was in a better place, some kind of catastrophe would happen: lost eyeglasses that needed replacing, or a leak that needed an expensive repair.