God of Hearts

Seeing God with hearts full of love

03/03/2017

Isaiah 58:1-9A 

         Thus says the Lord GOD: Is this the manner of fasting I wish, of keeping a day of penance: That a man bow his head like a reed and lie in sackcloth and ashes? Do you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!

          Here’s a little riddle for you: what organ of the human body did God gave to man to be able to know God best? You might immediately answer, “Obviously, that is the head!” After all, we study the Scriptures with our heads, we argue apologetics to convert non-Christians with our heads, we read the writings of the saints and scholars with our heads. Surely, we say, the head (the mind) is our best organ to know God. And that’s true enough. However, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI (who was no intellectual slouch, he had a huge head!) said in his book Jesus of Nazareth, “The organ for seeing God is the heart. The intellect is not enough.” Kind of surprising, isn’t it?  In other words, our head will only take us so far in knowing God, but our hearts helps us to get to God faster and it takes us farther.

          I’ve been enjoying reading a book by Romano Guardini called The Lord that Fr. Andrew gave me. Guardini said something surprising, too, when he claimed that God uses his heart to get to know us. Guardini wrote: “Tell me what moves you, and I will tell you who you are. God is moved by the suffering human heart; the pain clouds his face, and we understand who he is…He is the God of hearts” (The Lord, 125). Did you catch that: not only does man know God best by his heart, but we can also dare to say that God knows man best by his heart. That’s why John Henry Newman’s personal dictum was: “cor ad cor loquitur” which means “heart speaks to heart,” our heart speaks to God’s heart and his to ours. Again, Newman was an intellectual giant shockingly saying that the intellect is not enough.

          In the first reading Isaiah teaches the people God wants their hearts, not just their heads. He explains the purpose of fasting is not merely to know and obey a rule, but above all, to change a heart, to learn to love. Isaiah writes: “This, rather is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly…Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and homeless; clothing the naked when you see them.” And what does Isaiah predict will happen when your heart loves like that? He promises: “Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer, you shall cry for help and he will say: Here I am!” Like Guardini said: “Tell me what moves you and I will tell you who you are. He is the God of hearts.” God hears you when you speak from the heart, a heart full of love. God is not impressed by how much you know, but he is deeply touched by how much you love.

          People often ask me every Lent: Fr. John what should I do to make this season more spiritually fruitful? I would say the same thing Guardini said: “Tell me what moves you and I will tell you who you are.” That is, what do you love, and how can you love better? Do you have trouble loving your neighbor? Do you lack love for your spouse? Is a parent especially hard to love? Do you love your pastor (everyone should love their pastor more!)? On the other hand, do you love some things too much? Do you love your material possessions too much? Do you love your reputation (that is, your ego) too much? Do you love your political party too much? Both the Greek philosopher Aristotle and the medieval theologian Aquinas taught that we can fail to love on two sides: by both excess (too much love) or by defect (too little love), and we must rein in both extremes every Lent.

          That is the purpose of Lent: to learn to love, to have a huge heart, not just a huge head. Why? Because the best organ for seeing God is the heart.

          Praised be Jesus Christ!