Hidden Yet Fully Seen — St. Margaret of Castello and My Story

For every heart that has felt unseen, unwanted, or unloved — there is a Love that never turns away.

My mother cried when I was born because I was a girl.

She wanted a boy — a son to carry the family name.

In Chinese culture, that longing for legitimacy runs deep, and from the very beginning, I carried the quiet message that I was somehow wrong.

I didn’t arrive in this world with a warm welcome.I grew up feeling like there wasn’t space for me — not in my family, not among friends, not even in my own heart. I often felt emotionally dysregulated, uncertain how to find safety in relationships or within myself. I thought something was wrong with me — at least, that’s what I was told.

Then Jesus found me. At fourteen, I started attending a Protestant church. For the first time, I felt what it was like to belong, even if I didn’t know how to trust it yet. I was confused, overwhelmed, and still learning how to receive love. My church family was kind — messy, imperfect, still learning how to love — but they made room for me.

They tried to teach me about faith, but I wasn’t yet fully devoted to Jesus.I didn’t truly understand the salvation story — from creation to Christ’s passion to the birth of the Church — not until my conversion to Catholicism, when I encountered the mystery of the Eucharist.

When I discovered the Eucharist, something in me shifted.I found myself drawn to the mystery of Christ made present — His body offered, His heart open, His love constant. The Eucharist spoke to the deepest wound in me: You are wanted. You are worth staying for.

That’s when I met St. Margaret of Castello, my patron saint. She was born blind, small in stature, and hidden away by parents who were ashamed of her. Like me, she entered a world that did not welcome her. And yet, her soul bloomed with joy. She loved those who had nothing, comforted those who suffered, and lived with the radiant peace of someone who knew she was fully seen by God.

Margaret’s story became a mirror for my own — the unwanted child who became God’s beloved.She reminds me that rejection never defines us; love does. She teaches me that when human love falters, divine love endures. And she helps me believe that my place in the world was never earned — it was given.

Through her example, and through the tenderness of Jesus, I am learning that even the unloved can become love itself.

“Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.” — Psalm 27:10

Closing Prayer

Jesus, You found me when I felt unseen and unwanted.You called me beloved when I could not believe it for myself.Teach my heart to rest in Your gaze — steady, kind, and unchanging.

St. Margaret of Castello, you who knew rejection and still radiated love,pray for me and for all who carry the wounds of being unwanted.Help us to see ourselves as God sees us — whole, chosen, and cherished.May every place of pain in us become a dwelling place for grace.

Amen.