Keeping Advent 3: If I Only Had a Heart

December 3/First Tuesday of Advent

Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.” ~ Luke 10.21

As a perennial student, I have always felt a special respect, bordering on reverence, for those whom Jesus calls “the wise and the learned” – teachers, professors, and scholars.  For a long time, I was convinced that finding God was just a matter of acquiring the right knowledge.  I read books, perused journal articles, and worked hard to procure authoritative information on matters of faith and belief.  The more I read and the harder I studied, the more God seemed to elude my seeking.  Frustrated, I could not figure out why this analytical, even academic approach was not working — after all, it had served me so well for so long.  One day, with the help of a wry and compassionate young nun, I finally came to understand that the proper goal of my seeking should be not so much to comprehend God as to love God.  It was my heart, not my brain, that I needed to engage.  Or as the sixteenth-century Carmelite nun and spiritual writer Teresa of Avila observed, “The important thing is not to think much but to love much; and so do that which best stirs you to love.”  In our society, obsessed with test scores, college admissions, and high-status jobs, we often seem to prize being smart over being good.  But in truth, faith is not the automatic entitlement of “the wise and the learned.” It is a gift given to those whose hearts are truly open and trusting, like a child’s.  Reason and intellectual acumen certainly have their place in a believer’s life, but the way to God is the way of love.

Lord of all wisdom and truth, help me keep my heart open to your loving presence.  Amen.

To hear Jack Haley sing “If I Only Had a Heart” from The Wizard of Oz, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aE-nMS9Mnk

For today’s readings, click here: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/120319.cfm