Connecting to the Heart of Our Faith

What is the heart of our Catholic Faith? The answer is simple, our Lord, Jesus Christ, but to explain what this actually means requires a little more of an explanation, especially when it comes to how to place the heart of our faith in our daily life. This for me is not always easy to put into words. Why? Well, we are not talking about physics here. There is not an equation for us to discuss or to discover. The topic of the heart is not for the mundane. We cannot measure, and therefore we cannot encapsulate the heart so as to gain a better understanding of the universe’s laws. Our reason or our science is not adequate enough here. What we are discussing is the existence that the very cosmos itself cannot parallel. There is no equal to whose nature can compare to the heart, that is, the essence of God’s infinite love (John 3:16). This is a subject of the divine, whose laws are created from Love itself. The nature of love being eternal and out of time makes this reflection a lifetime’s pursuit. To seek the heart of our Faith is the pilgrimage that we are all on. Now understand, love is not a destination that we arrive at. It is an ongoing process that continues to deepen and grow. Like a marriage for example. This short reflection then, to bear good fruit, is not going to discuss the nature of love, but to offer my reader tools that can be used to connect with the heart of our Faith, and to deepen our love for our Lord.

To begin, the first thing that needs to be discussed is what prevents us in our daily life from coming to have a deeper relationship with the heart. It is sin, but more specifically, it is the SIN OF APPROPRIATION.” What does this mean? St. Francis of Assisi tells us, “You eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good when you appropriate to yourself your own will, thus crediting yourself with the good which the Lord says and does in you.” What the Saint is telling us is that the sin is not in the possession, but rather, it is us declaring an “exclusive rights” and making creation our own. Sin is in possessing what is not ours and this is not just for the material but for the spiritual as well. For example, to say that I possess the truth or for this reflection, I am the source of love, is to truly sin and separate ourselves from God. What happens with appropriation is to say that love is proper or most excellent in me which means that I do not require anything from God. “I got this” or “I have this under control” are the words of a person who is not seeking the heart of our Faith. There is no need to pursue anything if I already have it. The truth is however, I do not have anything. Love, truth and all of creation is not mine to possess. It all belongs to God.

The first tool or aid I can offer my reader to work on losing this appropriation that exists within us comes once again from St. Francis. It is a prayer that he wrote and it goes like this:

Most High, Glorious God,

enlighten the darkness of my heart,

and give me correct faith,

sure hope and perfect charity,

with understanding and knowledge, Lord, 

so that I may fulfill your holy and true command.   

This prayer is the prayer before the Crucifix, and why I believe this can help my readers deepen their relationship with the heart of our faith is because we need to find ourselves often kneeling in front of our Lord’s Cross. It could be at our parish or at home. We can also simply just grab onto the cross that hangs around our neck. The point is. We need to remember throughout our day that it is his Cross that saves us. It is his Cross that opens the gates of heaven for us. It is his Cross that teaches us that in this life, we are called to do two things: love and forgive. St. Francis knew this well when he wrote this prayer and that is why he looks to the theological virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity as the guide on this journey we are on. He knew that to have correct faith meant to follow the words of Christ which was to pick up our cross daily and follow him. How do we follow him? By opening up scripture and receiving the holy Sacraments of his Church.  Sure hope is what Thomas Merton taught us in his book “No Man is an Island.” He said to let go of everything (let go of possessing) so as to free our hands to receive the Lord’s hands which are reaching out to grab ours. Lastly, to love perfectly. This one I will take a little more time with.

St. Augustine in his “City of God” taught us that “man is not good because he merely knows what is good, but because he loves the Good.” To have perfect love is to first love God who is the Good. The tool I like to offer my reader here is once again another prayer and a habit that they should begin. The prayer of the Angelus which is recited three times a day. First at 6am, then at noon then finally at 6pm. The prayer goes like this: 

V/. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary,
R/. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you;
blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.

V/. Behold the handmaid of the Lord,
R/. Be it done unto me according to your Word.
Hail Mary…

V/. And the Word was made flesh,
R/. And dwelt among us.
Hail Mary…

V/. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,
R/. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray. Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts: that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ your Son was made known by the message of an Angel, may by his Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of his Resurrection. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

This prayer offers us a reflection throughout the day that our God became flesh. He emptied himself (Philippians 2:7) and took on our suffering. It also gives us Mary, the Mother of God, and a beautiful reflection of her yes to God’s command. Her heart was his. She gave everything to our Lord, even her son, to fulfill what God had promised. Besides Christ, she is our greatest example of how to bring the very heart of our faith into ourselves and to let go of everything else. By saying this prayer daily, three times a day, we can have God always in our heart and mind.

The reader may ask, “How can I possibly have God on my mind all day?” I understand that we all suffer from a distracted mind. There is so much noise going on around us. The world moves fast and we feel that we are always trying to keep up. The last four tools I want to offer my reader today in this reflection are focused on how to simply learn to quiet the mind and put ourselves in the presence of God. This is easier said than done, but I already gave two ways in which we can do it. By finding ourselves in front of our Lord’s Cross during the day and praying the prayer of the Angelus three times a day. These prayers take only a few moments of our daily life but they are moments that will take us away from the mundane, and place us in the presence of the divine. Second, we can be present. Again, easier said than done. We have our long lists of things to be done at work and at home. To be present is not easy when we need to be always aware of the next tasks in hand. I recommend a simple trick which is to just focus on our breathing. Take a few deep breaths throughout the day, but do it consciously which means with an image in our head which I recommend is us stepping out of this world for just a moment. Picture ourselves stepping out of our work or our busy life and walking up and being in the presence of Christ. No words. Just being present with him. This is a good way to begin your prayer by the way. The third tool to find ourselves closer to the heart of our faith that I would offer is prioritizing our prayer in the morning and in the evening. DO NOT OPEN OUR PHONE WHEN WE FIRST WAKE UP, and DO NOT HAVE THE PHONE BE THE LAST THING WE SEE. Start our day with scripture and end our day with scripture. Find a book with daily reflection from the Saints or the Popes. Take our mornings and evenings as moments that we share with God. Start our day with Him and end our day with Him. Lastly, and this is from our Pope, read a very short book that I believe can help with becoming more present with God. It is called, "The Practice of the Presence of God" by Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection.

I would love to share more with my readers on this topic, and I believe I will in other articles, but I believe this is a great start. The prayers learned here are beautiful ways to connect to the heart of our Lord. They are prayers that will deepen our relationship with him. The techniques that I offered are also a great way to begin to slow down so that not only to talk to God but also to listen to Him. This is important. We need to listen more to what God is saying to us. I would like to end with a few more words from St. Augustine describing to us exactly what it means to live our life with the heart of our Faith versus what it looks like when we live a life of appropriation. He says, "The one company (angels) burns with love of God; the other (demons) smolders with the foul desire for its own exaltation..." Our love for God must burn but not smoulder. Our love must be one that is humble and not filled with pride. Our love must look toward God and not toward ourselves. I hope that this has helped and for more insight and my thoughts, please give a follow on my Instagram Account:

@Catholically_Conscious