God desires for us to be the persons we were created to be: to be simply and purely ourselves, and in this state to love God and to let ourselves be loved by God. It is a double journey, really: finding God means allowing ourselves to be found by God. And finding our true selves means allowing God to find and reveal our true selves to us.

James Martin, MA, MDiv, ThM, is an American Jesuit priest, author, and long-time editor-at-large for America magazine. In addition to writing popular books on spiritual development, he became popularly known after becoming the “official chaplain” of Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report, and he continues to offer his perspectives on news platforms such as CNN, NPR, and TIME magazine. He is best known for his work advocating for the acceptance of LGBTQIA persons within the Catholic community, writing his book Building a Bridge in the wake of the 2016 Orlando, Florida nightclub shooting.