Back to the Heart

What is love? Countless songs, poems, books, and paintings have tried to answer that question. Since the beginning of time, we’ve searched for words and images that could capture even a glimpse of it.

Love. An emotion, a feeling, an unexplainable, abstract phenomenon that lives in the heart. Not in a physical way, like the heart that pumps blood and keeps us alive, but in an intangible way, in an experiential way, that often eludes words. Love profoundly impacts who we are and how we live. 

“Dilexit Nos” (He Loves Us) is the title of Pope Francis’ encyclical I chose to read. After sharing in last week’s blog that I knew little about his papacy or writings, this felt like the right place to begin. Love, after all, is what fuels us, helps us grow, restores our peace. At our the core, it’s what we most long for and what others most need from us.

The heart is the epicenter of who we are. It is the place where love resides. The challenge is that the heart is tender and can easily be hurt. Let’s face it, all of us have had our hearts wounded at some point in our lives. And when our heart gets broken, it closes behind walls of security. That’s our defense mechanism. Hurt me, and I’ll build a wall. Over time, we can build wall upon wall and bury our hearts. As a result, love and our authentic selves live hidden and rarely make an appearance.

But God wants so much more for us—he wants our hearts healed, open, and alive. Pope Francis speaks directly to this in several powerful passages I came across:

God’s Nearness: Love that Comes Close

“In his compassion, God does not love us with words; he comes forth to meet us and, by his closeness, he shows us the depth of his tender love.”

“Jesus always finds a way to be present in your life, so that you can encounter him.”

“Whenever we feel that everyone ignores us, that no one cares what becomes of us, that we are of no importance to anyone, he remains concerned for us.”

Love is not abstract—it is present. God draws near in the quiet, unnoticed spaces. Even when we feel forgotten, we are deeply known and loved.

Healing the Wounded Heart

“If we find it hard to trust others because we have been hurt by lies, injuries, and disappointments, the Lord whispers in our ear: ‘Take heart, son!’ (Mt 9:2), ‘Take heart, daughter!’ (Mt 9:22). He encourages us to overcome our fear and to realize that, with him at our side, we have nothing to lose.”

When we take a chance and are willing to call out from behind our walls, we will encounter a loving Father who whispers, come and find healing.

Love Builds Relationship

“For only the heart creates intimacy, true closeness between two persons. Only the heart is able to welcome and offer hospitality. Intimacy is the proper activity and the domain of the heart.”

“Surely it is a source of profound consolation to know that we are loved so deeply by Our Lord, who constantly carries us in his heart.”

Love doesn’t happen at a distance. It requires vulnerability. It leads to the kind of friendship that flows from the heart, the kind of friendship that the Lord wants with us.

We Were Made for Love

“Yet we cannot attain our fulfillment as human beings unless we open our hearts to others; only through love do we become fully ourselves. The deepest part of us, created for love, will fulfill God’s plan only if we learn to love. And the heart is the symbol of that love.”

“If love reigns in our heart, we become, in a complete and luminous way, the persons we are meant to be, for every human being is created above all else for love. In the deepest fiber of our being, we were made to love and to be loved.”

We were created to love and be loved. When we let love reign, we find our authentic self.

Keep Seeking God

“It is the Father ‘for whom we exist’ (1 Cor 8:6). In this sense, St. John Paul II could say that ‘the whole of the Christian life is like a great pilgrimage to the house of the Father.'”

The journey to love is also the journey home—to the One who created us and never stops calling us back.

Live It. Share It.

“Christ asks you never to be ashamed to tell others, with all due discretion and respect, about your friendship with him. He asks that you dare to tell others how good and beautiful it is that you found him.”

“The men and women of the third millennium need the heart of Christ in order to know God and to know themselves; they need it to build the civilization of love.”

The world is starving for love. And each of us are invited to be part of the solution—by living love, speaking love, and reflecting the heart of Christ.

Final Questions to Ponder by Pope Francis

“Instead of running after superficial satisfactions and playing a role for the benefit of others, we would do better to think about the really important questions in life.

Who am I, really?

What am I looking for?

What direction do I want to give to my life, my decisions, and my actions?

Why and for what purpose am I in this world?

How do I want to look back on my life once it ends?

What meaning do I want to give to all my experiences?

Who do I want to be for others?

Who am I for God?

All these questions lead us back to the heart.”

If you have some time this week, perhaps you could sit with one or two of these questions or read this blog on healing. Let love lead you back to the heart of God.