Broken hearts

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Have you ever felt like your heart was being pulled in separate directions?  Or that your heart was telling you one thing and your brain was telling you something else?  Or maybe that your heart actually hurt from the ache you felt inside?

There are many different ways we experience and describe a broken heart.  In the Book of Joel, Chapter 2 (Verses 12-18) we read:  

"Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments and return to the Lord, your God . . ."

Searching online for a little help with the "rend your hearts" phrase, I came across an additional way to think about our hearts.  This comes from "Got Questions":

"The idiom rend your heart expresses internal spiritual brokenness, which is vastly more important than any empty, hypocritical act of ripping apart one's closing.  Rituals of repentance mean nothing if the heart is unchanged."

When the Lord asks us to "rend your hearts," he is not asking for a superficial, turning towards him.  He's getting at our core.  This requires us to recognize the very ugliness in our words and actions--even in our character--that needs to be changed.  

We must consider the ways we offend, reject and turn away from God deeply, which is discoverable through a sincere (and healthy) examination of ourselves and our relationship to God and others.

"In Joel's day . . . The people performed rituals of tearing their clothing without experiencing true, heart-crushing remorse for their sin, which would lead to a change in behavior and genuine devotion to
God . . ."

As we begin our journey through Lent today, beginning with Ash Wednesday, let us be careful not to go through ritual practices without actually rending our heart. Let's open ourselves up to the loving, healing and mercy of God.

And while we are at it, hopefully we can join in with all of the catechumens (the unbaptized) who through the process of seeking entrance into the Church, will find their hearts and lives converted to God in very real, and sometimes painful (as well as joyful) ways.

And the journey begins . . .

Janet Cassidy
janetcassidy.blogspot.com



 

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