HEART DETERMINES WHAT PATH WILL BE FOLLOWED IN LIFE

AUGUST 21, 2009

Many attempts to reach God go amiss because they overlook the strategic importance of the human heart. It is impossible to understand or think about one without the other, for "God is love" (1 Jn 4:8), and love is known by the heart.

In our skeptical age, if only everyone would consider the mystery of love, and reflect on the human heart, it would be so much easier to overcome doubt and arrive at knowledge and love of God.

The heart is the hidden source of all significant human actions. The heart is like a fountain of desiring that overflows into either good or evil. It is like a tree that produces good or bad fruit. Among the evil fruits of human craving, St. Paul mentions "lewd conduct, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, bickering, jealousy, outbursts of rage, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like" (Gal 5:19‑21).

In contrast, speaking of the fruits of a loving heart, St. Paul says that "Love is patient; love is kind.  Love is not jealous, it does not put on airs, it is not snobbish. Love is never rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not prone to anger; neither does it brood over injuries. Love does not rejoice in what is wrong but rejoices with the truth. There is no limit to love's forbearance, to its trust, its hope, and its power to endure" (1 Cor 13:4‑7).

Jesus revealed the heart as the source of human defilement when he said that nothing entering a man can defile him, but only that which comes out of him. In fact, he indicated that the deeds we do in our hearts are done just as really as if we had done them with our bodies.  So, he says, "anyone who looks lustfully at a woman has already committed adultery with her in his heart"
(Mt 5:28).

Desire is like a glue: it binds the desirer and the object desired. Thus, the heart is the source of all loyalties. Loyalty creates a bond between a particular lord and a particular servant. Similarly, the heart is the source of all treasuring, and so the heart can be located by locating the treasure. Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Mt 6:21). By dedicating itself through desiring, serving, and treasuring, the heart determines what path will be followed in life.

The heart even determines the operation of the body's senses. It determines where the eye will wander, for example, or what the ear will hear. An ear deaf to God is an ear attached to a straying heart.

The root cause of human unhappiness is a divided heart, a heart unable to rest in a single love and loyalty. What happens is that the heart becomes divided by its own desires. Each desire is like a lord, a suitor demanding attention and obedience. Each suitor competes with the others for the heart's allegiance. The heart in time exhausts itself in an effort to serve and please all the lords who seek to possess and dominate it.

The only solution is singleness of heart. The rich man who meets Jesus in the Gospel (Lk 18:18) illustrates this. He had kept the law faithfully since childhood and had done everything required of him, but he knew he was missing something. His heart was restless. He hungered for a deeper contentment and joy.  He asked Jesus what he must do to gain everlasting life.  Jesus looked at him with love and told him that to have what he longed to possess he had to sell his riches and give them to the poor so that his heart would have nothing left but God. Only if the heart is emptied of all desires except the desire for God can God fill it completely, and only then can the heart be at rest.

As Saint Augustine said, "Our hearts were made for thee, O Lord, and they will not rest until they rest in thee." Purifying our hearts of all desires that are not worthy of us enables us to know and possess God: Jesus said, "Blest are the single-hearted, for they shall see God" (Mt 5:8).

The heart, then, is the scene of mortal combat.  One treasure, one lord, must eventually be chosen over all the rest. When the heart's final choice is made, the consequences can be eternal. When one lord is chosen, all the others recognize this and abandon the heart. So after choosing, the heart no longer feels any of its other former attachments. When it chooses God, it no longer feels the desire for money, but hates it instead. When money is chosen, on the other hand, the heart no longer desires God, but despises Him. Jesus said, "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other or be attentive to the one and despise the other. You cannot give yourself to God and money" (Lk 16:13).

The heart's choice easily remains hidden from view. If it has chosen sin, its condition of slavery usually remains a secret. The heart can be most deceitful, and even we can be deceived about what is hidden in our own hearts.

God alone sees the heart's true condition. He is closer to our heart than we are, and only he can cleanse our heart and rescue it from slavery. To know this is to know what it means to need to be saved, and to need God's help in bringing about a change of heart. Recognizing the poverty of our condition, faith impels us not to despair but to have hearts brave enough to enter into humble prayer: "A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me" (Psalm 51:12).

+Bishop Raymundo J. Peña

last updated 09-Jun-2010 10:44 sitemap