Hope for the Human Heart

“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you”

-St. Augustine

Thomas Merton wrote that faith talks when reason can say no more. While it is true that some people’s faith journey begins with reason, there always comes a time when what we know becomes what we believe and finally what we follow. It is here that our heart speaks and understands. Scripture tells us that the demons believe in Jesus, but they do not follow him. It is our hearts that Jesus’ touches. When he gathered the apostles, they did not leave everything because of head knowledge of Jesus, they left because their hearts found their rest. After the crucifixion the disciples’ hearts were broken, they thought their hope was gone. When Jesus appeared in the Upper Room after the Resurrection, their hope was restored.

The Good News of Jesus penetrates the human heart. In him all our dreams, desires, and passions find their purpose. When we try to find them in other things they leave us wanting more because they do not satisfy. The woman at the well understood this after talking with Jesus. He is the Living Water of which our heart drinks. So many of the analogies Jesus gave about our created connection with him were in relationship with him. The greatest relationship we have in this life and the next is with Jesus. That relationship connects us with others as well.  At Pentecost the barriers of language were broken, the consequence of Babel was lifted for a brief moment, and we were given a glimpse of the power of the Gospel. It quite often baffles our reason as it talks to the heart.

The foundation of Jesus in our lives connects us not only to God the Father, but also to the communion of saints past and present. In the midst of all the craziness of our personal lives and the world, we find rest in Jesus. He conquered death and sin. He gave us the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Let us celebrate this Easter season by showing those who have not found rest, the hope for which their heart is searching.

**This article was written for the Spring 2011 issue of Today's Disciple (a magazine published by my parent's church in Orlando, FL: St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church).