Provincial Ponderings - February 2025 - The Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province

February 21, 2025

by Rev. John Collins, C.Ss.R.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Putting pen to paper for this month’s Beacon, I am acutely aware of the image of the human heart. It is ‘front and center’ in my consciousness. As I wonder why, some reasons quickly come to mind. February 14 is Valentine’s Day, and the image of the heart is plastered everywhere for weeks leading up to this hallmark holiday, from heart-shaped boxes of candy to heart-shaped floral arrangements, to heart-shaped doughnuts and other delectable desserts - all in full supply! A far more sobering, tragic, and heartbreaking reason for me, is my experience of the January 29 American Airlines passenger jet and Army helicopter collision that took the lives of sixty-seven people here in Washington, DC. To actually see the sight of the recovery operation in the Potomac River on my drive to an appointment at the time only made my heartfelt sadness all the more real for those lost and for their heartbroken loved ones, undoubtedly shocked and saddled with unspeakable grief in the anguish of it all. Then, just last week my friend Kathleen called unexpectedly to ask for prayers for her niece who would be undergoing a heart transplant later that same week. (I just heard yesterday that the surgery went well!). And no matter where you are on the socio-political spectrum, anxious hearts and wary spirits abound in the souls and lives of many people these days, who are feeling uncertain and frightened by the tumult and travail of the many transitions in government and public administration. And to add to all these reasons, I would add the season of Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday, March 5, 2025, with its invitation to “return to God with all your heart” (Joel 2:12). Our hearts hold and process many experiences, from the sacred and sublime to the mundane and the profane.

The sacred space of our heart is the center, the core, of our whole being. Often just understood and referred to as the place of our emotion and feeling, the heart in the Judeo-Christian sense embraces not only feeling and affect, but the intellect, mind and will of the human person as well. The heart is seen as the center of a person’s inner life - thoughts, feelings, and intentions – so much more than simply a physical organ. Our faith teaches us that it is the sacred space from which we experience deep understanding, wisdom, and connection to God. The prophetic texts of the Old Testament make it abundantly clear that encountering God and listening and attending to our heart go hand in hand: Thus says the Lord, I will put my law within them, and I will write it in their hearts (Jeremiah 31:33); Behold, I will lead her to the desert where I will speak to her heart (Hosea 2:14); and, Rend your heart and not your garment (Joel 2:13).

Lent calls us to listen to our hearts, to take time and make space amidst all the busyness, noise, and stressors of life for some quiet and still moments, so as to become more aware of where we are in the core of our being in the face of so much stuff that can numb us, and even dumb us, into cluelessness, and worse, callousness, towards ourselves and one another. How often the pace, the space, and tenor of life these days leaves us feeling, “I don’t know whether I’m coming or going; sometimes it’s all too much; and I just can’t take anymore.”

Rending and opening our hearts in faith and without fear is where we meet the Living God who dwells there and who speaks to us there at our core. Heartache and heartbreak can make us bitter or better, open us up or shut us down to the fullness of our life -with God, inside of ourselves, and with all others. When we turn to God from within the center of our being, that is, when we rend our hearts, God meets us with a kind, forgiving, and empowering love. With abundant love and boundless mercy, the grace of God breaks open our hearts so that we may experience a LOVE that overtakes fear, a LIGHT that prevails over darkness, and a LIFE that triumphs over death.

Just before pressing ‘send’ to forward this pondering to my colleague, Joe, for publication, I saw this quote in the elevator: “The greatest thing your heart can experience is the presence of God.” Coincidental and just uncanny? I don’t think so. Providential and gracious? I believe so! God once again saying, “turn and open to me with all your heart so that you may know how close I hold and carry you in my own.”

Peace, prayers, and blessings to all. And a happy, heartfelt Lent, too!