A Retreat for the Heart

The words of Psalm 10, verse 17 remind us about the importance of offering ourselves to God through our heart in prayer: “O Lord, you will hear the desire of the meek; you will strengthen their heart, you will incline your ear.”

In the ancient world, the heart was considered to be the center of the body. While they didn’t fully appreciate the physiological nature of the heart pumping blood, they did understand that it was the seat of the physical and spiritual life. To them, it was important because all of the thoughts, emotions, and desires originated from the heart.

A recent book written by Robert J. McCarty, a renowned youth minister and former executive Director of the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry, called The Heart of a Disciple, published by Paulist Press, gives us an excellent way to think about our faith. The short book (only 114 pages) is a series of reflections about how hearts can be conformed to God’s.

Each of the 15 chapters examines the heart of faith. The book can be especially important for ministry leaders, clergy, and volunteers who may feel depleted or burned out. It is a retreat in a book. The chapters are short and easy to read. They also include a prayer, meditation questions, and ways to consider taking action in your life—to put your heart of faith into practice.

In Chapter 9, “Sharing Your Heart,” McCarty uses the metaphor of planting to help cultivate our spirituality. He writes, “Like Jesus, we can minister just by our presence. The passion and fervor of the disciplines of Jesus began a way of life that has continued for over two thousand years. This is our legacy. Now it is our turn to invite others into a life of faith.” McCarty continues to discuss the idea of planting small seeds, that with the right sunlight, soil, water, and care, will grow and germinate into larger, fuller, more fruitful plants.

Another important tool that McCarty describes is our ability to develop—and use—“heartsight.” Like eyesight, heartsight is the guides us toward our future. We need to use heartsight to see the entirety of our being, and our place in the world as a child of God. McCarty writes that heartsight is  a valuable spiritual sensory tool; it “sees beyond the unlovable, impossible, and seemingly insurmountable. We become more aware of the presence and movement of God in our lives and in the lives of others.”

Our journey of faith is both personal and collective. We are God’s people who minister to each other and show the love and compassion of Jesus, as He has done for each of us. McCarty reminds us of this and describes how the journey changes us, much like the change the two disciples saw when they encountered Jesus on the road to Emmaus. “We know the game plan,” he says, “live as Jesus did, seek our path, use our gifts to serve the world. Listen, learn, act, repeat.

The book is a wonderful collection of reflections and “mini-retreats” that can be done in a group or individually. The ease of reading is relaxing and conversational, and the structure of each chapter gives it a comforting reassurance of God’s loving words in our heart. Like the end of each chapter in the book, we end with a prayer—a request that God grants us the heart to be like His:

Good and gracious God,
we celebrate your Son’s Sacred Heart, and
His Mother’s Compassionate Heart.
We ask that you give us hearts like theirs,
and lead us to the core of your love for us.

Help us to see within our own heart the
beating movement of life and the life of those around us.
Give us a heart of humility to see the poor, serve them,
and love them as You have loved us.

We ask this all through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

 

Colin May holds a Certificate in Catholic Theology (Scripture) from the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame, as well as advanced degrees in leadership and strategic communications. A frequent contributor to The Catholic Moment diocesan newspaper, he blogs about faith, leadership, and homiletics at https://preachingleadership.blogspot.com/.

PHOTO CAPTION: Jesus directs us to His Sacred Heart in a detail from a stained glass window at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana. (author photo)

 

*originally published in The Catholic Moment