Reflections from the Heart – September 5, 2021

Twenty-thirdSunday in Ordinary Time
by Fr. Ivan Olmo

“Thus says the Lord: Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you.” When was the last time you had a serious conversation with your heart? Our hearts are vital to our life, to our health, to our well-being. Just the same, our hearts are vital to our spiritual life, to our spiritual health and to our spiritual well-being. We can suffer our hearts, reject them and even despise them or we can allow our hearts to fill us with hope and joy at even the thought that God is near or even with us. God has captured our hearts. He is drawn to them. He is drawn to the beauty of his creation. God loves our hearts. It is a place of refuge, a place of rest, a place of Holy Communion, a place of conversation, a place of unity, a place of peace, a place of deep consolation, a place of everlasting light, a place of profound love, a place of great healing.  The heart is the place God chooses to dwell and remain in us and we in him. But we neglect our hearts. We are upset with our hearts because they allow themselves to be duped, to be loved, to be hurt. In our vulnerability, in our desire to be loved, in our desire to trust, we give our hearts away to things, people, events.  They can disappoint us. They leave our hearts empty, longing and dry. But the Lord says, “Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God… he comes to save you.” Our Lord comes to restore what was lost. He comes to heal what hurts. He comes to love what is wounded. He comes to fill the void. No one can love our hearts better than the One who is love, than the one who created our hearts for love and for himself. Our hearts can love because it is God who uses our hearts to love others. God uses your heart to love your parents, to love your spouse, to love your family, to love your children, to love your friends, to love your coworkers and yes even to love those you hate, to love those who persecute you and to love your enemies. So be good to your heart. Love your heart and it will love you for it. Jesus meek and humble of heart make our hearts like yours.